Residents of a sleepy community sandwiched along a major highway on Kaduna-Kano road are crying out over loss of lives over frequent accidents because of the absence of a pedestrian bridge. MOHAMMED BELLO HABIB reports.
Gwargwaje is a community in Zaria local government area of kaduna state. The community is located on the Trunk A Zaria-Kaduna and Zaria-Kano expressway that connects southern and northern parts of the country. That is to say every motorist must pass through the community either from the south to the north or vice versa.
The community has a population of over 500,000 habitants, and rounded up by many villages of Zaria and Giwa local government areas of the state.
The highway is a busy road in the whole of northern Nigeria with vehicular movements day and night. On this highway, investigation reveals that there is no day without accidents due to the flow of vehicles on that road. In most cases, pedestrians are the always the victims which is attributed to lack of provision of pedestrians’ bridge in the area which would have reduced or stamped out frequent incidences of pedestrians being knocked down due to road mishap.
It is believed that since the dualisation the road by the regime of former military president, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida from Abuja to Kano, there had been cases of fatal accidents resulting in death of pedestrians and cyclists.
Mallam Sani shugaba is farmer resident in the community. He told Blueprint that most of the accident victims were locals who were mostly killed while trying to cross the road, he said that pedestrians find it difficult to cross the because it was expanded and wider than it was before.
Mallam Shugaba complained that most of the vehicles normally embark on high speed because the road was express way.
He attributed the incessant accidents on the road to high flow of vehicular as it was the road which link northern and southern parts of the country.
“I have been here in Gwargwaje for the 30 years; so I can tell you that every blessed day, accident occur on the major road and most of the victims are pedestrians most especially women and children in the process of crossing the road.
“We the resident of Gwargwaje want use this opportunity to call on both the federal and especially the state governor to as a matter of urgency assist in saving lives of common man from being killed by constructing pedestrian bridge in the area before the expiration of his tenure as governor.
Also in his contribution a motorist, Habu Duna, who plies the road said accident is the order of the day in the area.
He explained that there was a day when accidents claimed about five lives separately.
Duna complained that there was a need for federal government to review the contract for reconstruction of the road currently going on to include overhead bridge at the area at least to curb the incessant deaths in the area as according to him, women and children would find it very difficult to cross the way it is today.
Alhaji Ali Sarkin Tashi is a leader in the community and he shed more lights on how accidents have been the order of the day.
“Accidents here in our community Gwargwaje do occur on a daily basis. Most of the victims are pedestrians and cyclists. We are hereby calling on the government to come the aid of common man by bridge or flyover to address the problem.
When contacted on the matter, a staff of worker in the Federal Ministry of Works, Kaduna, Engineer Finbarr Zirra said that the problem could be solved if the community could complain to his ministry and indicate the need for the construction of pedestrian bridge
