Gully erosion has cut off the popular Edepie-Imiringi bridge linking Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, to several communities in the East Senatorial District of the state, thereby leaving commuters stranded.
The road, constructed several years ago, also links some communities in Rivers State.
Some multinational oil companies also access their facilities through the route.
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A community along that route, Oloibiri, was where oil was first discovered in commercial quantity in Nigeria in 1958.
Governor Douye Diri, during the inspection of the bridge over the weekend, directed the state ministry of works to fix the road as soon as possible, and the ministry has already put a road close sign near the failed portion to prevent motorists against looming danger.
Niger Delta Trust learnt that travellers heading for and returning from the oil and gas-rich Ogbia and Nembe local governments are now compelled to ply through Okarki community in Rivers State to get to their destination.
Unfortunately, the alternative route, the Opolo-Elebele road, and the Elebele-Emeyal road have since been cut off by rampaging flood and another collapsed bridge thereby putting additional pressure on the now eroded Edepie-Imiringi road.
Also, the Otuoke-Onuebum-Agbura road, which is one of the fastest routes to access Ogbia Local Government through the Azikoro axis of Yenagoa, the state capital, is at present not accessible due to the flooding across the state.
A local resident in the area, Mr Ezekiel Azi, said it was the delay by the relevant authority to intervene that led to the total collapse of the road.
He said: “We saw the problem coming but surprisingly no action was taken by the authorities to mitigate the erosion threat. It all started as a small pothole close to the bridgehead but this year, unprecedented flood accelerated the erosion menace. The troubled spot developed into a deep ravine leading to the closure of the road to traffic last Thursday.
“This is the busiest route used by our people including oil workers, academic staff and students of the Federal Government Girls College, Imiringi, Federal University, Otuoke, and the state-owned College of Health Technology, Otuogidi in the Ogbia kingdom.
“The Otuoke-Onuebum road which could have aided easy movement for residents heading for Ogbia-Nembe-Brass and also for those coming to Yenagoa is also not accessible today owing to flooding, leaving us with no option but to go through Okarki in Rivers State which is a longer route,” he said.
Governor Douye Diri said the level of damage on the road indicated that thorough work was not done by the contractor and the engineers that supervised the construction.
He said: “Recently, the federal government told states not to repair their roads. But this road links three local government areas and the primary users are Bayelsans. So, while we know it is a federal road, we had to take immediate action.
“To ameliorate the suffering of our people, the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure will mobilise down here to ensure that remedial work is done to allow our people to move.
“It is however unfortunate that the job that was done appears not to be a very concrete one. I’m sure if the engineers come here, they will know where the problem lies,” the governor said.
