Following the threat by Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) on Wednesday to halt distribution of petroleum products from Lagos to the northern part of the country from Thursday till further notice over the closure of state-owned roads in Niger State, the state government has vowed that no amount of blackmail or threat will make it rescind its decision.
The government said the decision to restrict trailers, tankers, and other articulated vehicles from plying all its roads was overdue, adding that the step was in the overall interest of the people of the state and other road users.
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It would be recalled that PTD, in a statement by its National Chairman, Otunba Salimon Oladiti, explained that the action became necessary following the shut out of heavy trucks, including tankers, from using the link roads in Minna, Niger State capital, by the state government.
Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello accompanied by the state infrastructure and projects monitoring committee and members of the state Executive Council had personally supervised the road closure at the Bida end of the road in a brief ceremony on Tuesday.
He said at the event that the decision to close the road was to allow the construction company handling the rehabilitation work speed up the execution.
The Niger State Chairman of Infrastructure and Projects Monitoring Committee, who is also the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mallam Ibrahim Balarabe, while reacting to the PTD position said in Minna on Thursday that the government will not yield to any blackmail or threat from any group or association on the restriction order which would not be lifted until the project is completed.
Balarabe pointed out that the deplorable condition of the road and activities of the heavy-duty vehicles have subjected the people of the state to what he called “severe hardship,” adding that “This has contributed to a large extent, to the slow pace of work on the 82 kilometers road.”
The contract for the complete rehabilitation of the road was awarded to Dantata and Sawoe at N23.4billion in February this year, but after seven months, no appreciable progress has been recorded, which the contractor blamed on the activities of the heavy-duty vehicles.
He also advised the federal government as a matter of necessity give attention to some of the federal highways in the state, which include Bida-Agaie-Lapai-Lambata, and the notorious Mokwa-Tegina-Birinin Gwari-Kaduna highway to ease pressure on the Minna-Bida road.
He however denied insinuations that the restriction included federal roads in the state, saying “We have no power to close federal highways.
“The restriction is only on state-owned roads and this is to enable the government to work on these roads.”
