THE House of Representatives has directed the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to embark on the reconstruction of the Warri-Sapele-Benin and Sapele-Agbor roads and instructed the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba as well, to deploy more men to the roads to protect citizens from being attacked.
The motion, titled “Need to Reconstruct Warri-Sapele-Benin and Sapele-Amukpe to Agbor roads in Delta State,” which was jointly moved by two members, Ben Igbakpa and Anthony Afe, was unanimously adopted by the House yesterday.
The lawmakers reiterated the need to reconstruct the “parlous” Warri-Sapele-Benin and Sapele-Amukpe-Agbor roads that connect Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, and Rivers states with other South-South states and Nigeria in general by stating that it is impossible to overstate the role that road infrastructure plays in socioeconomic development.
According to the Lawmakers, the major road, which spans a distance of around 104.5 kilometers, was built 27 years ago and is the most popular route for articulated trucks transporting oil and gas from Delta State to other regions of Nigeria.
The reps pointed out that “similar roads in the country that are not as important as the Warri-Sapele-Benin and Sapele-Amukpe to Agbor roads constructed within the same period had undergone rehabilitation, while Warri-Sapele-Benin and Sapele-Amukpe-Agbor roads, through which the country derives its source of wealth, and are left in a total state of disrepair.”
The motion read in part, “The House is disturbed by the suffering of the people plying the road, and the cries of loss of man-hour as a journey of one hour now take about eight hours due to the deplorable state of the road; thus paralysing the socio-economic activities in the zone. The road is a federal road and the governor of Delta State, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, has expended billions of naira to fix some affected portions of the road, but with the recent pronouncement by the Federal Government that directed states to stop intervening on federal roads has made the state to hands off from road repairs, thus leaving the road in total disrepair.
“The House is worried that criminals have taken advantage of the deplorable state of the road to rob, kill and kidnap road users and motorists along the highways.”
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