Minna-Suleja-Diko Road gridlock painful- Commuters

Traffic congestion has continued to cause delays for motorists and commuters along major roads linking Suleja with Maje Junction in Niger.

The congestion, which started on Thursday and persisted into Friday morning, resulted in slow movement of vehicles and prolonged travel time for motorists and commuters.

A tanker driver, Ya’u Ahmed, told newsmen on Saturday, that the situation was caused by tankers blocking the road around Maje Junction.

Ahmed said tanker drivers were being prevented from entering Suleja Township and were demanding access to the route to ease their hardship.

“I have spent four days on the road from Lambata to Maje. I am going to Kaduna,” he said.

Musa Dantala, a member of the Maje Drivers’ Union, said some commuters who travelled to Lambata Market were forced to sleep there because of the traffic congestion.

Dantala also narrated an incident involving a tanker driver whose son was reportedly crushed underneath the vehicle.

He said the driver, after noticing that traffic had started moving, moved the tanker without realising that his son was underneath it.

According to him, the tanker ran over the boy, killing him, and the child was buried on Friday morning.

Another motorist, Isma’il Suleiman, said private and commercial vehicles travelling from Lambata to Maje experienced severe congestion, particularly along the dual carriageway.

Suleiman attributed the situation to the large number of tankers using the route because of the poor condition of the Maje-Diko Road.

He said the road was congested throughout Thursday but became clearer in the early hours of Friday.

“The traffic has reduced now and vehicles are moving,” he said.

A tanker driver, Aminu Mohammad, said he had also spent four days on the road while travelling to Maiduguri.

“I have spent four days on this road and I have not reached Maje,” he said.

Faisal Yusuf, a shop owner along Maje Road, said some tankers could remain stationary for an entire day without moving.

Yusuf appealed to the government to urgently intervene and rehabilitate the road to ease the hardship being experienced by motorists, commuters and residents.