By Ajifa Ainoko
As traffic gradually eases along the Lokoja–Koto-Akpogu axis, travellers have expressed deep dissatisfaction with the handling of the ongoing reconstruction of the Lokoja–Koton-Karfe section of the Abuja highway.
The complaints follow days of severe gridlock that left motorists and passengers stranded for several hours, a situation that reportedly persisted until Monday night.
Some of the affected travellers called on the Federal Government to urgently deploy adequate machinery and manpower to fast-track the completion of the long-delayed road project.
Many described the experience as a recurring nightmare, blaming the slow pace of work by contractors and what they termed the indifference of relevant authorities, years after the contract for the road was awarded.
One of the travellers, Helen Bawa, who was journeying from Benin to Jos, lamented the long man-hours lost in traffic and the hardship endured by families and children trapped in the gridlock for hours.
Similarly, a livestock merchant travelling from Bauchi to Port Harcourt, Ademu Usman, said he lost more than 20 goats to exhaustion during the ordeal, adding that he was forced to slaughter several others to prevent further losses.
The travellers appealed to the Federal Ministry of Works to give urgent attention to critical road projects, particularly the Lokoja–Abuja corridor, a major route linking the southern and northern parts of the country.
The prolonged gridlock also disrupted the travel plans of thousands of Nigerians moving across the country for the yuletide season.
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