Drivers and commuters that move between Port Harcourt and Aba Express road have been groaning heavily over the current deplorable state of the road.
The road has remained bad for some years, but has become very terrible presently following the rainy season that has started. Many portions of the road have failed completely, particularly the area immediately after the Imo River bridge going to Aba, Abia State from Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Some drivers and commuters who spoke with Newsportal lamented over the fact that a journey that usually should take them 30 minutes now take almost two hours because of the terrible state of the road.
A constant user of the road, Mr. Godwin Nwachi, said the thought of driving to Aba from Port Harcourt always would give him serious worries.
According to him:
“I carry passengers to Aba everyday, and once it is morning, my mind will cut. I begin to think how to drive through the road. Now that rainy season has started, the road has become a major problem for us drivers.
“I don’t know why government is allowing us to suffer everyday. It is not good at all. Please, tell the government to come to our rescue for it causes serious pain passing through this road”.
A truck driver, Chinedu Okoye, described it as a harrowing experience driving to Port Harcourt from Aba. He said truck drivers were worse-hit, as they needed to be extremely careful to avoid their trucks falling down and destroying customers’ goods.
He said:
“For us who drive big motor, we are in big trouble. If your motor fall, your trouble will increase because the owner of goods you are carrying will hold you tight asking for compensation.”
Amarachi Chisom, one of the commuters interviewed, said that if she had a choice she would have stopped going to Aba, but she would not allow her business to suffer.
Her words:
“I deal on provisions. I buy them from Aba and my shop is in Port Harcourt. I go to Aba regularly to buy. This road increases my blood pressure, but there is nothing I can do. My children are in school, so I have to struggle to provide for them.”
The woman, who is a widow, wondered why the government reconstructed the Port Harcourt and Oyigbo portions of the Aba – Port Harcourt road and left the Abia State side of the road.
She called on the Muhammadu Buhari led administration to do something urgently to ameliorate the condition of the road to enable business activities thrive.
