The contractors repairing the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway were beaten, injured and chased away from site by hoodlums, Ogun State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ade Adesanya, said.
Adesanya said EndSARS protesters last week beat up the contractors, stalling the rehabilitation works on the deplorable road which had attracted criticism from commuters.
The commissioner, who disclosed this to journalists in Abeokuta, lamented that many of the contractors were injured while more than 100 truckloads of materials meant for the road repair were currently stranded and could not get to the site.
Motorists have been lamenting the poor condition of the Lagos-Abeokuta express way, a federal road which has been in a terrible shape for over four years.
Hundreds of youths from the area had two weeks ago protested the bad condition of the road, calling on both the federal and state government to urgently fix the road.
Following the protest, the commissioner said, Governor Dapo Abiodun, immediately directed contractors to carry out works on the failed portions of the road.
However, the commissioner explained that the hoodlums, last week pounced on the contractors, beating and injuring some of them before chasing them away from the site.
He said, “The road is a federal road, but that has not prevented the state from working on them. The road is not in the best shape; it is in terrible condition but the directive from His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun is that it doesn’t make any difference if it is a federal road, we need to make it motorable.
“For the past two and a half weeks, contractors have been working on the road, unfortunately it has been difficult to get materials to the site in the last one week.
“I directed my people that they need to double their efforts but since Monday we have only been able to get three trucks load of materials to the site.
“We have more than 100 trucks pending which are ready to go but are being challenged. Some of the contractors were beaten up,” he said.
