Residents want Ikot Abasi-Abak road dualised

Worried by frequent accidents on the Ikot Abasi – Abak road in Akwa Ibom State, residents of Ikot Akpa Enin portion of the highway have appealed to the Federal Government to work towards dualising the road.

Speaking in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, Chief Effiong Ufot, a community leader in the area lamented that “several lives have been lost in some avoidable accident cases along this road”.

He recalled that no fewer than five persons including two policemen, lost their lives, while several officials sustained varying degree of injuries as the convoy ferrying the Managing Director (MD) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Obong Nsima Ekere, got involved in an accident.

The incident, according to eye witnesses, occurred when the advance pilot teams were trying to navigate the sharp bend from the East-West Road (Horicorn Road) into the adjoining Ikot Abasi-Ekparakwa Road en-route Uyo to Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

“I could count about seven dead bodies lying on the road being inspected by the shocked NDDC MD, Mr. Nsima Ekere, before they were taken along with the injured to the nearby hospital.

“The advance pilot team ran with full speed as they approached the Ikot Abasi-Ekparakwa intersection at Esene axis of the road, oblivious of an oncoming trailer before ramming into it with great impact”, Effiong Samuel, a local resident of Esene community in Ikot Abasi, told the Nigerian Tribune.

Another eye witness, Udo Ekong Joseph, a local motorcyclist, was full of thanks to God, saying “the casualty figures would have been much higher if not for the fact that the incident occurred on the very day of the big market in Ikot Akpa Enin, because a lot of people especially motorcyclists, who used to cluster at the junction where the accident occurred, would have been affected”.

The NDDC MD and other top officials of the commission, it was gathered, were heading towards Uyo, en-route Calabar, the Cross River State capital to receive the Acting Nigerian President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, on a working visit to the state, when the tragedy occurred.

Although a statement by the Corporate Affairs Department of the agency said the incident occurred on the Calabar-Itu Highway, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Akwa Ibom State Command, Mr Donald Awunah, who confirmed the accident, was quick to counter it, affirming “the accident happened in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of the state”.

Also, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Chukwu Ikechukwu, could only confirm that “two policemen and one civilian died”, it was gathered that the figure could be higher.

The distraught MD of NDDC, Obong Ekere, who personally commiserated with the victims and their families, while visiting them at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), prayed for the repose of the souls of the dead and asked God for mercies for quick recovery of the injured.

“I thanked God that the injured are responding to treatment, the Commission will personally take care of the bills”, Ekere said and prayed that families of dead should find solace in the God Almighty, who remains the owner of life and death.

Ekere, who promised to compensate families of the victims, has been receiving torrents of condolences from the government and people of the State.

Governor Udom Emmanuel, in a message signed by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Charles Udo, prayed God to give the NDDC MD and the management of the Commission the fortitude to contain the tragedy, while the Commissioner for Works, Akparawa Ephraim Inyang-eyen, also commiserated with Ekere and the victims’ families.