Ikot Offiong, Nassarawa communities decry absence of access road

The residents of Ikot Offiong and Nassarawa communities on the outskirts of Calabar, Cross River State, have decried the absence of an access road to their areas.They said the only road leading to the communities was in a deplorable state and had become impassable, especially during the rains.One of the residents, Mr Anietie Umoh, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the road was 'horrible' and that the residents were wondering if the state and local governments had not forgotten them.Umoh, a taxi driver, said the condition of the road was more disturbing because of its flooding, which often made it difficult for the residents to get back to their homes after work.'As you can see, whenever it rains, residents find it difficult getting back to their houses because the road will be flooded.'Sometimes, the situation will be so bad that the few taxis that manage to ply the road are scared and residents returning from various destinations walk home, wading through the flood stretch.'Umoh said that commercial motorists were avoiding the route due to the damage it often caused to their vehicles.According to him, 'if as a taxi driver you manage to work a whole day on that road, then you must end up in the mechanic workshop the following day.'Malam Abdullahi Danfulani, a cattle dealer in the area, complained that the state of the road was scaring away customers coming to buy cows from the cattle market in the Nassarawa community.'Honestly, the road is a problem to us. Many people have stopped coming to Nassarawa to buy cows because of the road.'Even, sometimes trucks conveying our cattle get stuck on the road because of its poor state.'Another resident, Mr Emmanuel Ekong, told NAN that many people had moved out of the area due to the bad road and called on the state Ministry of Works to come to their aid.'I appeal to the government to come to our rescue by including the road in its urban roads rehabilitation programme,' he said.The Commissioner for Works, Mr Venatius Ikem, had, at a recent media briefing in Calabar, said that the ministry had embarked on the reconstruction and rehabilitation of some urban roads in Calabar.But efforts to confirm if the Ikot Offiong road was among them failed as the commissioner could not be reached.Top officials of the ministry contacted on the issue declined to comment, saying that only the commissioner had the powers to talk to the media.
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