Commuters plying the Aba-Port Harcourt stretch of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway have appealed to the federal and Abia governments to save road users from untimely deaths on that stretch.

The commuters made the appeal on Sunday in Aba, Abia, when they spoke with journalists.

The appeal came on the heels of an accident in which a 40-feet container fell from an articulated vehicle on an 18-seater Toyota Hiace bus heading to Port Harcourt, killing one passenger, with 17 others critically injured.

The accident occurred on Friday at the Flyover Bus Stop near Alaoji Spare Parts Market because of a road failure. It was the latest in a series of similar accidents.

A commercial driver, Anyalewachi Onyekwuru, said the failed road from Aba to Oyigbo in Rivers had claimed hundreds of lives.

He added that it had also caused many vehicles, especially articulated vehicles plying the route, to develop mechanical faults and break down on the road.

He urged the federal and Abia governments to work on the road to reduce accidents.

Another motorist, Chinedum Nnabuihe, expressed regrets that the state government could not apply even palliative measures because the highway is called a federal road.

He said heavy-duty vehicles going or coming from Rivers, mainly from Port Harcourt and Bayelsa, use the road, putting a lot of pressure on it.

Mr Nnabuihe said the Abia government must have noticed that businesses had lost much patronage because of the failure of that expressway leading into Aba.

He expressed regret over the loss of eight lives on the same road a few weeks ago and urged both state and federal governments to save road users on that expressway.

Mfon Moses, a trader who frequents Ariaria International Market, Aba, decried the stoppage of rail service between Port Harcourt and Aba, which, she said, was a better alternative for commuters.

She urged governments to ease the sufferings of Nigerians and argued that with little effort, the roads would be passable, and Nigerians would become more patriotic.

(NAN)