By DADA AYOKHAI
The Benin-Auchi highway has again witnessed a major lockdown, with a long stretch of trucks and other vehicles stranded for days, while motorists were forced to seek alternative routes through the Auchi-Afuze-Sabo road.
The gridlock, stretching from Ekpoma in Edo Central to Auchi in Edo North Senatorial District, has become a recurring tragedy on a road that serves as the only viable link between the South-South and Northern Nigeria.
The forced diversion of heavy-duty trucks to the old Afuze-Sabo road in Owan East and Owan West Local Government Areas has overstretched the narrow rural road, which was never designed for such tonnage.
Residents now live in fear that their only community link road will also collapse, cutting off several villages entirely.
The alternative Owan exit roads provided great relief for guests who attended the burial of late political leader, Chief Dan Orbih, in Ogbona, Etsako Central Local Government Area.
Respondents have therefore called on the Federal Government and Governor Monday Okpebholo to urgently intervene. They lamented that while the Governor and APC leaders tour Edo North to promote President Bola Tinubu’s candidacy, they reportedly avoided the completely collapsed Iruekpen-Ozalla-Sabo road, leaving residents to question what tangible federal achievements are being marketed in the face of deplorable roads.
They accused the Minister of Works of creating the impression that the Benin-Agbor road is the only federal road deserving attention in Edo State, while all other federal roads in Edo North and Central remain neglected, deplorable and left to deteriorate, with no tangible federal presence to justify the campaign for continuity.
Economically, the impact is devastating. Edo North and Central are largely agrarian, producing yams, tomatoes, palm oil, plantains and cassava. With trucks trapped for days, perishable goods worth millions of naira rot away, inflicting huge losses on farmers and traders.
Transport fares have more than doubled on the corridor. A journey from Benin to Auchi that used to cost a few thousand naira now costs three times more. This has triggered a spiral of inflation in major markets in Ekpoma, Uromi, Irrua, Auchi and Jattu, where the cost of food and building materials has soared.
The haulage and manufacturing sectors are also bleeding. Industries that depend on raw materials from the North are experiencing chronic delays, while truck owners count losses from broken axles, excessive fuel consumption and days of idle manpower stuck on failed sections of the highway.
Security risks have heightened. Stranded commuters, especially at night around the Ekpoma, Ehor and Agbede axes, have become easy prey for armed robbers and kidnappers who exploit the gridlock and the lonely, failed portions of the road
