Ipetu-ijesa Residents Alert Govt On Dilapidated Omi-Elede Road
Yusuf Oketola
RESIDENTS of Ipetu-ijesa in Oriade local government area of the State of Osun have appealed to both Federal and State governments to rehabilitate Omi-Elede road along Ondo-Osun expressway.
OSUN DEFENDER gathered that the road has become a death trap to motorists and commuters plying it in the last three years.
It was noted that potholes and craters have taken over the road, when visited on Wednesday.
Our reporter also sighted four faulty vehicles, at different spots on the road.
The medium also gathered that there was a kidnapping incident on the road on October 12, 2022, a development that threw the community in panic.
A resident of Ipetu-Ijesa, Mr. Muhideen Adisa, in an interview with the medium, said the road has been neglected by the government for the past three years, noting that people have resulted to self-help in fixing it.
He said: “This road has been abandoned for the past three years and its condition has made it to be a hideout for criminals who perpetrate all forms of evil acts here. Travellers plying this route are not safe anymore.
“We appeal to the Federal and State Government to wake up to their responsibility by fixing this road on time. We have resulted into self-help by getting laterite to fill some of the bad portions but it doesn’t last. The government still need to intervene”.
The Chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the local government, Comrade Idris Olaniyan, stated that the deplorable condition of the road has caused a lot of accidents.
Olaniyan noted that the poor condition of the road has become a nightmare for the residents, especially farmers and other business owners in the area.
He said a lot of businesses have shutdown because of fear of kidnappers that have made the route a hideout.
Olaniyan said: “This road is what fetch us money. All our members ply this route on daily basis. But the road is not good at all to the extent that kidnappers and human traffickers always perpetuate their evil acts every night. Some travellers were kidnapped last night.
“We appeal to both federal and state government of Osun to come to our aid by fixing this road. The road links to many other towns. It also leads to Ondo State, Ore and those going to Port Harcourt and Benin from Ipetu-ijesa.
“Many vehicles and travellers do spend days on this spot because of the condition of the road. Anytime a vehicle is moving out of our motor park, we do seek for the cover of security agencies to monitor them through this route.
“A lot of heavy duty vehicles have stuck on this road. Some of our members are always here to assist vehicles that stuck on daily basis and to do some little fixing on the road”
Also, some of drivers plying the road appealed to governments at all level to re-construct the road, noting that their lives and properties are in danger.
One of the drivers, Mr. Rafiu Adewale, said: “The road was repaired some years ago when we called the attention of Osun and Ondo government to it. But now, it is worse than before to the extent that armed robbers and kidnappers have been taking advantage of the condition of the road to perpetrate their evil acts.
“We don’t have another road. It is this road that we are using to take care of ourselves and family. The government should please help us to fix it. We have recorded more than four accidents on this road.”
A trader, Mrs Funke Johnson, stated that some of them selling food items on the road are living in fear and cannot stay beyond 6pm.
According to Johnson, traders do stay till 7:30pm on the road before it became a spot where criminal elements perpetrate their crimes because of its condition.
