Road collapses in Ekiti, motorists ask govt for quick reconstruction

On Wednesday, a section of the Ado-Ilawe Road, which is the alternate route from Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, to Akure, Ondo State, collapsed, causing unimaginable difficulty for drivers travelling the road to their destinations in the states.

PUNCH Metro learned that many drivers were irate as a result of having to turn around and seek out alternate routes after the road fell in.

According to reports, the occurrence caused drivers to return to the state capital where they had to choose between using the dangerous Ado-Akure Road or the convoluted Ado-Iyin-Igede-Ilawe Road to get where they needed to go.

According to information obtained by our correspondent, the section of the Ado-Ilawe Road caved in as a result of water seeping beneath the road from nearby rocks.

No casualties were reported in the incident, according to a traveller named Adenike Adebiyi, because the road gave way when cars were not using the axis.

Adebiyi said, “We have to thank God that no vehicle was passing at the particular time the road caved in; it would have been another story by now. Initially, I was frustrated on getting to the spot, especially when I did not know any link road.

“But when I saw some vehicles making u-turns, I had to follow them through a narrow road which was not all that in good condition, to burst out at Igede Ekiti before we continued the journey to Ado Ekiti. The government has to be fast about repairing the Ado – Ilawe Road,” she said.

Road users would have to endure the discomfort of taking longer ways to reach their destinations, said Oba Adebanji Alabi, the Alawe of Ilawe Ekiti, who visited the scene.

In the interest of Nigerians using the facility, Alabi urged the state government to "urgently rebuild the road."

The state government would promptly reconstruct the road to soothe the users, according to Sunday Adunmo, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Roads and Infrastructure, who also stopped by the scene for an on-the-spot inspection.

Federal Road Safety Corps members will be on the ground for traffic diversion "until the required is done as proper authorities have already been informed," according to Sector Commander Olusola Joseph of the corps in Ekiti State.

Source