Motorists, commuters and pedestrians encountered difficulties in making use of the Onitsha-Owerri Road and the Old Market Road in Onitsha as a result of a downpour that occurred in the area late on Saturday and left some parts of the road enveloped by flood.
The downpour, which started at about 6:45 pm till 11:20 pm, left the roads in a bad state, thereby forcing commuters going to their various destinations stranded as only a few commercial vehicles plied the roads.
At the Ogbommanu area of the Old Market Road, commuters had a very hectic time navigating through the bad portions of the road as they waded in the flood to continue their journey.
Also, at the Upper Iweka end of Oguta Road, before the Queen of the Rosary College, Onitsha, it was the same story for road users as the flooding and refuse bins that were scattered on the road hampered vehicular and non-vehicular movement on that road.
The refuse bins, most especially diapers, nylons, water bottles, etc., which the floods forcefully evacuated from various gutters, littered the road and hampered the smooth flow of both vehicular and non-vehicular movements as people struggled to pass through.
Besides, the downpour did not help matters for road users as it was accompanied by floods, which made some of the roads almost impassable.
At the Onitsha-Owerri Road, the situation caused a standstill on both lanes of the road, especially from Ogboazun/Enamel/Amanator axis as people were seen trekking on one side of the lane.
The gridlock that the road now suffers as a result of its bad state was made worse by a broken-down truck at the Amanator Bus Stop on the road.
It was gathered that the truck broke down in the area while coming from the Oba section of the road on Wednesday.
A road user, who gave her name as Genevieve Okeke, said, “This portion of the Onitsha-Owerri Road has been left abandoned and has become a death trap, thereby making us go through agony.
“It has become almost unmotorable; motorists are no longer safe. It seems both officials of federal and state governments do not make use of this portion of the road, if not something would have been done to it.
“The authorities should pity us, the suffering is just too much. The rain that fell this night made matters worse for people plying the road and it is not a good development.”
Another motorist, who simply identified himself as Godwin, said, “I live in Awada, near Amanator, along the Onitsha-Owerri Road. We are suffering so much on this road. I trekked from Upper Iweka to Amanator because tricycle operators refused to ply the road and the few that summoned courage were charging exorbitantly.
“Onitsha is a commercial city, but most of its roads are not befitting of a commercial city. For instance, this Federal road is very critical to the South-East, but it has been left abandoned over the years.
“Although many motorists have been avoiding this part of the road, we that are living around the axis are suffering because we have no other road to pass through.”
