Death trap

• Ebonyi women threaten to shut down dilapidated highway causing accidents, claiming lives

From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki

Abakaliki/Enugu expressway, particularly the Ezzamgbo axis of the facility, has become a death trap. According to residents, the road used to be one of the best for motorists and other road users until rehabilitation work by the federal government commenced on it last year.

Another portion of the highway abandoned after scraping

Constructed by the administration of David Umahi, some portions of the road have been failing since after the construction. While some of the failed portions of the road have been rehabilitated, some have not.

The federal government decided to rehabilitate the Ezzamgbo portion of the highway and created serious potholes on the road by digging the portions for rehabilitation. Sadly, since last year when the rehabilitation commenced, the work has been moving slowly, causing motorists and other road users difficulties and multiple accidents, which claimed lives.

Ifeanyichukwu

Among those who died on the highway in auto crashes was a 27-year-old corps member, Eze Ifeanyichukwu. He was also a personal assistant to the deputy speaker of the state House of Assembly, Chinedu Onah.

He was involved in the accident alongside three other legislative aides of the deputy speaker on January 11, 2025. The entire Ohaukwu local government area was thrown into mourning following the incident.

•Some of the women protesters

Last week, six lives were lost on the expressway, which forced women of Nsulakpa, Ezzamgbo, Ohaukwu LGA of Ebonyi State to block the ever-busy expressway last week to protest the deaths and multiple accidents  on the highway.

Human and vehicular activities were halted for hours on the highway during the protests. It took the efforts of some stakeholders of the local government area, including the council chairman, Ikechukwu Odono, and Commissioner for Capital City Development, Sunday Inyima, among others, to appeal to the women to vacate the road for road users.

Ifeanyichukwu’s body carried by corps members for burial

Mrs. Ogba Uloma, one of the leaders of the women, said, if by next week the contractors are not around to speed up the rehabilitation of the road, what government will see from them will not be palatable. She lamented that they have lost their loved ones on the road and described it as unacceptable.

She claimed that she was suffering arm and leg injuries because of the road after a trailer hit her and sped off.

She said: “Drivers will just hit us and run away, especially last Sunday. The thing really upset us; it is getting too much.

“If government cannot help us, we are ready to help ourselves because they promised us double lanes. Are we now enjoying the double lanes or are we now crying because of the development?

“If we come back here without any work going on, government will not like to see what we will do. We have the capacity to do what we will do and nobody can stop us. What we will do will be more terrible than what we have done.

“We will make sure that all the vehicles passing this road are turned back. We will not allow vehicles to pass this road anymore because we have lost many souls here and we are not happy about it.

“I am having one leg and one arm because of this rubbish road. A trailer hit me on this road because of the potholes created in the name of rehabilitation and, today, I am managing my life. What is all this? If government cannot help us, women of this community will come and close this road.”

Another woman leader, Blessing Okweshi, also lamented that many lives have been lost on the road since the commencement of its maintenance.

She said: “We are protesting because this road has been abandoned for so long a time. They just came and dug craters on the road and left. Travellers are plying one lane and our people are being killed every day.

“People die here every day: school children, men and women. So, the one that prompted us to come out en mass to protest was the one of last Sunday, which claimed  the lives of a pregnant woman with her unborn baby and a man on the spot.

“A pregnant mother was coming back from Eke Market and a trailer ripped her open and escaped. She died, the unborn child died and two other men died. So, we decided that we cannot take it anymore. That is why we are protesting.

“The dead woman was called Chika Unah, a mother of three. She was killed on the abandoned road by a lorry driver who ran away without reporting to any police station till date. The accident occurred last Sunday.

“Many lives have been lost along this Abakaliki-Enugu highway, and you can see how potholes are dug everywhere, with heaps littering the road without signs since 2024 till date.

“And that’s why we massively came out to stage a peaceful protest, to condemn this ugly act, our people are tired of dying like fowls because of the slow pace of execution of this road rehabilitation.

“Our appeal is that urgent attention should be paid to this road. This road should not claim any life again. Nobody that has lost his or her life can come back again. We have lost our loved ones and we cannot take it any longer.

“Let government close the pits, tar the road so that people can be using the double lanes to avoid these unfortunate deaths we have been witnessing here.”

Other women, including Hellen Nweonwe and Obiageri Owoh, also expressed dismay over the abandonment of the project and described the route as a death trap.

They maintained that the protest was to register their grievances to the general public and vowed to shut down the road completely if by next Tuesday the contractors are not on site to quicken the work.

A youth leader, Ogbu Ifeanychukwu Ogayi, told Daily Sun that the community lost six persons in a day on that road. He called for speedy completion of rehabilitation work on the road to prevent more auto crashes.

He said: “Our people are dying every day on this road because of accidents. It is these potholes the federal government created in the name of trying to rehabilitate the road that is causing these crashes.

“The one that pained us mostly is the one involving a heavily pregnant woman who was involved in an accident and she died instantly. We are not happy about it.

“We have lost six persons on this road within one week. There was a man who was with his entire family and all of them died on the spot.

“The engineers handling this project should act fast to avoid these multiple accidents that have claimed the lives of our people. The road is now a death trap.”

The traditional ruler of Ntsuruakpa Izhia community, Eze Joseph Ozogbuo Okafor, blamed the contractor handling the  project for the crashes. He called on the state and federal governments to intervene immediately to ensure fast completion of the project.

He said: “Everybody is weeping over the gory nature of the road and its deadly effects since last year.”

The  chairman of Ohaukwu local government area,  Ikechukwu Odono, assured the women that the contractor would be compelled to fasten the work without further delay.

Meanwhile, tears flowed freely in Osege Ngbo, Umuogudu Osshia,  Ohaukwu LGA, when the remains of Eze Ifeanyichukwu, a corps member who died in an accident on the road, were committed to Mother Earth. The 27-year-old man was buried at the weekend by his fellow corps members. His burial attracted people from all walks of life.

Martin Chinonso, one of his friends, described his death as very painful. He said: “He was a humble servant, a dogged fellow, hard-working and a promising youth with untapped potential.

“His death is one too many and too difficult to endure. We are deeply sad to hear this devastating news when we are preparing to celebrate his POP from NYSC and other milestones together as a family.

“At a tender age, Ifeanyichukwu lost his mother and couldn’t enjoy her care. As the only son, the father anchored his hope on him and was relieved seeing him becoming a man and opportuned to serve as PA to the fourth citizen of Ebonyi State through the benevolence of Rt. Hon Chinedu Ogba.

“Like his boss, his life was characterized by generosity as he had in several fora given cash and other palliatives to his people, which endeared him to them.

“We sympathize with the entire family, especially his father and our boss, Hon. Onah, over this obnoxious development.”

Other friends of his, including Ezeson Jonah and Alfred Nwuruku, lamented the loss of the vibrant young man because of the deplorable state of the road.