The Christmas day collision involved an empty petrol tanker and two trailers, one of which was fully loaded with cement and stirred serious emission of cement and dust from the uncompleted road project, causing impaired vision. The impact dragged on yesterday, forcing a traffic gridlock that stretches for close to a kilometer on both sides of the road.
The three vehicles went up in flames at Wowyen, about 15 kilometres to Akwanga. That part of the road has now come to be popularly called “Many Have Gone” because of the typical fatal accidents that occur there.
“The explosion was heard far away. We thought it was something different. After some time, we tried to draw near, only to find three long vehicles burning,” a witness told Daily Trust.
Men of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) have increased their presence along major roads in the state, with their Ember Months campaign to reduce crash risks and they have been there to lessen the effect. Francis Udoma, sector commander of the FRSC in the state could not be reached on phone, but some of his men on ground said the agency succeeded in tearing the vehicles apart to create passage. They said there was no death from the collision.
Construction work on the road at that point has continued to drag, with many diversions that have impeded traffic flow. About three years after the completion period for the federal government project to realign Akwanga-Lafia trunk “A” road at those dangerous bends, the job is still dragging with the contractor still on the earth work. ENL Consortium, the contractor handling the project, was awarded to the job almost five years ago, to strengthen the dangerous curves between Endehu and Nasarawa-Eggon. The job was meant for completion in October 2010, according to the former minister for works, Sanusi Daggash, who had frowned at the quality of work and pace during an inspection tour in June 2011.
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