Residents of the Bako, Panada, and Jiboye areas of Ibadan have appealed to the government to construct a bridge over the Jamoje River along the Ibadan-Abeokuta Road.

The residents told journalists on Friday that the bridge would avert impending crises from the river’s annual overflow during the rainy season.

The affected areas are in the Ido Local Government Area (LGA) of Oyo State.

The Baale (traditional head) of Bako, Abdulfatai Musbaudeen, said the river had constantly threatened residents, commuters, and motorists during the rainy period.

According to Mr Musbaudeen, the culverts underneath the road, meant for a free flow of water, are blocked due to environmental degradation. He said the road, constructed years back, was also not maintained.

“Motorists and cyclists plying the road towards or from Abeokuta are always stranded when the river overflows its bank, making passage difficult.

“Whenever it overflows, it usually blocks the roads, leaving residents to either trek or turn to ply longer routes to their destinations.

“When most of our people are caught in the overflow, they park their vehicles to wait till its tide rescinds to prevent being washed away,” he said.

Similarly, Mudashiru Busari, the Balogun of the Bako community, called for the dualisation of the old Ibadan-Abeokuta Road.

“In addition, a bridge over the river will reduce the spate of casualty on the road and open up the area for economic development,” he said

A resident of Bako, Kamal Aremu, claimed the river had, in the past, swept away commercial motorcyclists and their passengers.

“It is so fearful that whenever it’s about to rain, people from the Bako to Omi-Adio area rush home to avoid being caught in the web of the overflow.

“Whenever it rains, residents, especially the traders, always prefer to stay with their relatives in town, while those in Ogunpa, Aleshinloye, Bodija, and other markets will sleep the night over in their shops or at friends’ houses,” he said.

A resident of Panada, Romoke Oladipupo, regrets that the bridge has about three blocked culverts, which prevent it from emptying its water to the other side of the road.

She also said activities of fish and dry season farmers had distorted the river’s normal course of flow, thus making it flow across the road, disturbing the commuters.

Meanwhile, Yusuf Wasiu, the Ikolaba Balogun of Omi-Adio, said they had lodged complaints with relevant federal agencies.

According to him, the temporary solution by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) washed away after it rained only about three times.

Mr Wasiu said they reliably gathered that the bridge had been awarded to a construction firm but had not been mobilised to move to the site.

He urged the Oyo and Ogun State governments to rally around to overcome the annual problem.

Mr Wasiu also appealed to the chairman of Ido LGA, Sheriff Adeojo, to put up measures to stop the dumping of refuse by the roadside or in the river. He said this was necessary to avoid an environmental epidemic.

(NAN)