Petroleum tanker and lorry drivers in Cross River have expressed grave concern over the worsening condition of the Federal Roads in the state.

They cited the multiple dilapidations on the Calabar-Itu, Calabar-Biase, and Ekpugrinya-Ogoja Federal Highways to buttress their worries.

Some drivers said in an interview in Calabar on Wednesday that most portions of the roads had been rendered impassable by deep potholes.

They said that plying them now posed serious danger to road users and their vehicles.

Abdullahi Abubakar, who conveys goods from the north to the state, said the situation had discouraged many truck drivers in the north from coming to Calabar.

“The most terrible section of the road is from Calabar to Biase, where we suffer so many falls with the attendant huge capital losses.

“Two weeks ago, a truck conveying petroleum product fell at Iwuru Community on the Calabar-Biase Road, and before help could come, the villagers started scooping the spilled product,” Mr Abubakar said.

Also, David Okon said the Calabar-Itu Road had become nightmarish for motorists and commuters.

Mr Okon said because of the poor road condition, many commuters now preferred to travel by sea from Calabar to Uyo.

A Calabar-based trader, Chukwura Obi, said that some lorry drivers in Aba and Onitsha had stopped coming to Calabar because of the deplorable roads.

“These days, we suffer to get trucks that agree to transport our goods from Onitsha and Aba to Calabar.

“This is because most of the lorry drivers no longer want to come to Calabar because of the bad roads,” Mr Obi said.

For James Ogar, who plies Calabar – Ogoja route in his Sienna bus, the section of the road from Ekpugrinya Junction to Ogoja was damaging the shocks of their vehicles.

The drivers appealed for the federal government’s urgent intervention with palliative measures on the roads before the next rainy season would set in.

“Then, after the palliative, the government can award the roads for immediate reconstruction this year,” Mr Ogar said. 

(NAN)