By Egufe Yafugborhi
FOR motorists travelling from Benin through Asaba to Onitsha, the journey is increasingly becoming a test of patience, vehicle endurance and sheer determination.
The ordeal reaches a painful climax on the roughly two-kilometre stretch from Okwe Junction to the New Building Materials Market. The section of the Asaba-Onitsha Expressway has deteriorated into a chaotic corridor of collapsed road portions, muddy shoulders, stagnant water and shattered motorable lanes, forcing cars, buses and heavy-duty trucks into desperate battle for space.
This situation is particularly severe after the Koka Flyover, where the contractor handling major repairs has concentrated work on the right lane towards Onitsha, leaving the opposite lane badly damaged. Motorists say the apparent absence of workers on the site for weeks has worsened the situation.
“So often, when heavy trucks and large buses jam the only motorable lane to and fro, you have a chaos, almost every hour of the day,” a minibus driver, Lucky Benson, told Vanguard.
