WARRI – Traveling along the Benin – Warri expressway is becoming a night mare for motorists and travelers plying the ever busy road.

This is because, some portions of the road have become death traps for users of the ever-busy road which leads to Warri, Bayelsa, Port Harcourt on the one hand and Ore, Lagos and the northern parts of the country on the other side.

The iron/ steel used to fortify the Jameson bridge across River Ethiope leading to and from Benin which appears to have been vandalized , is gradually depressing, leaving it almost bare as only a few of the iron/steel are left.

Motorists have to exercise a lot of caution by slowing down because the water underneath the bridge can be seen by looking in between the steel and can even lead to cars somersaulting.

Across the bridge, from a close observation, is a yawning gap that can halt or swallow the tyres of a tricycle if caution is not applied.

Drivers that are not used to the road and are unaware of the failed portion of the road, can easy somersault and land in the river.

Meanwhile, the steel poles originally used as barricades on both sides of the bridge have also been vandalized , leaving vehicles unprotected from flying inside the river.

Mr Morrison Oritsegbemi, a councillor in Warri North Local Government Area and frequent traveler on the road, told NIGERIAN OBSERVER that the deplorable state of the road is worrisome.

He said, “the bad portion is very very bad and of course, there’s nothing we can do as it is a Federal road.

“I, however, appeal to the Federal Government to come to the aid of the people plying the road.

“The users are not just Deltans as the road leads to Lagos, Port Harcourt, Bayelsa, Benin.

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“They ply it day and night. They should come to our aid.

Since this government talks about “change,” they should come and do it so that the people will be happy.”

Oritsegbemi also enjoined the Delta State government to fix the road instead of waiting for the Federal Government which might be slow in taking action.

“The state government should not wait for the FG, they should fix and find how to collect the money from the Federal Government.

“They should fix the bad portion of the bridge and road to avoid casualties, “ he warned.

Also speaking, another regular user of the road, a commercial bus driver who simply gave his name as Mr Godwin, lamented the adverse effects of the bad portion of the road on his vehicle and those of others.

Speaking in pidgin he said: “the thing dey spoil motor all the time.

“Some of our vehicles dey get accident on the spot. So, we’re not happy about it. We feel so bad about it.”

Godwin, who said he plied Benin, Warri and Abuja regularly, appealed to the State and federal governments to fix the bad portions of the bridge and road to avoid casualties.

He further added that hoodlums usually take advantage of the bad portion of the road to carry out their nefarious activities especially at night, since the know that motorists will usually slow down. He said,

” Armed robbers dey rob us and our passengers well well for here…. plenty times. We don even loose many of our drivers for the place.”