Uba Maigari, minister for state regional development has announced the commencement of construction work on the collapsed Namnai bridge along Wukari Jalingo high way in Taraba by the federal government.

Mr Maigari made the declaration on Thursday during an assessment visit to the collapsed Namnai bridge.

He recalled that engineers and surveyors from the North East Development Commission (NEDC), had already carried out their technical assessment of the bridge in the last six weeks with the view to reconstructing it.

He said that the situation of the bridge was a concern to the federal government, justifying why he had cut short his holiday for the visit to the site.

He expressed the commitment of the federal government to work on Namnai, Mayo Kham, Bantaje and Suntai bridges all in the state.

He said that his visit was a testament that the federal government was worried over the plight of the people, who ply the road that linked the Southern Nigeria and the North Eastern part of the country.

“As a responsible and responsive government, it is our responsibility to fix the collapse brigade as soon as possible.

“We are in a holiday but we have cut it short to give attention to the situation.

“Gov Agbu Kefas of Taraba had visited us in the past six weeks and we discussed on emergency intervention on Namnai, Mayo Kham, Bantaje and Suntai bridges.

“With this situation, which is a natural disaster, we are still going to commence work on Namnai bridge in the next one week,” he said.

The Namnai bridge, along Wukari Jalingo highway, which is linking Calabar to Maiduguri collapsed in 2024 due to flood.

(NAN)