The Enugu State House of Assembly has urged the Nigerian Army and the Police Force to dismantle the roadblocks along Ugwu-Onyeama section of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway.
It also asked them to devise a better and more convenient means of enforcing security checks along the road.
The lawmaker, representing Udi South Constituency, Okechukwu Aneke, made the call, yesterday, in Enugu, while moving a motion of urgent public importance. He said the roadblocks along the Ninth Mile Corner posed serious danger to motorists.
Aneke, who said there was the need for security personnel along the Ugwu-Onyeama part of the expressway, due to activities of armed robbers and kidnappers who operate on the road, however, said security operatives should not cause untold hardship for road users. He said there were other means that security presence could be maintained on the expressway, such as patrols and checkpoints, without roadblocks.
“It is already public knowledge that these roadblocks have led to serious accidents, causing injuries of varying degrees and claiming the lives of commuters who ply the road.
“On Wednesday, May 8, a commuter bus with passengers was involved in a fatal accident which witnesses attributed to the roadblocks mounted by soldiers, along Ugwu-Onyeama road. The driver obviously lost control because of many roadblocks and this led to the death of eight people with many others wounded. Not long ago, the driver of a trailer lost control of his vehicle as he tried to wade through the roadblocks and ended up killing three soldiers within the checkpoint.
“Recall that about three years ago, a pastor from Nachi in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State (my constituency) lost his life, together with his wife and children under similar circumstances, along the Ugwu-Onyeama express road because of the infamous roadblocks.
“Within this road, which is about two kilometres long, there are seven roadblocks. Five of these were mounted by soldiers, one by the policemen and one by the production personnel. The road blocks are ridiculously close to one another and the simultaneous operations by the army, police and produce people within the same vicinity constitute an eye-sore to road users. The roadblocks are death traps. The problem is better appreciated when considered against the backdrop that the road is a very busy access road which connects travellers from different parts of the country,” Aneke said.
Contributing to the motion, Malachy Onyechi, representing Nsukka West Constituency, noted that the lawmakers would not allow the security personnel to continue to intimidate motorists in the state. Onyechi lamented that the security personnel mounting the roadblocks had been extorting motorists, especially commercial drivers, adding that they did not care about the security of commuters.
Another lawmaker, Okey Mba, observed the increase in number of roadblocks in Enugu State, stating that the roadblocks had not served the purpose for which they were set up. While saying that the roadblocks have done more harm than good to road users, Mba pointed out that there was a need to overhaul security strategies in the state.
Also, the member representing Igbo-Eze North Constituency I, Clifford Obe, attributed accidents at the roadblocks to wrong citing of the roadblocks, as some of them were cited on sloppy roads. The lawmakers, therefore, called on the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division, Nigerian Army, and the Commissioner of Police in the state to urgently look into the situation.
The Speaker, Chief Uche Ugwu, said the House would liaise with the security agencies to ensure that the roadblocks were removed, to enhance a free-flow of traffic on the Ugwu-Onyeama section of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, as well as on other roads in the state.