Two days after a petrol tanker fell and exploded on the Upper Iweka end of the Onitsha-Owerri Road, the wreckage is still on the road, causing gridlock as commuters groan.
The tanker accident occurred on Friday on a failed portion of the road. Buildings, shops and other property around the scene were destroyed by the fire.
However, on Sunday, our correspondent observed that the 40-foot tanker was still occupying more than half of the road, a situation that resulted in chaotic vehicular and human movements.
A team of the Federal Road Safety Corps was seen managing the traffic coming from the River Niger Bridge, just as another 40-foot container had a brake failure and crashed at the culvert demarcating the road close to the fallen tanker.
On the outer lane of the Onitsha-Awka Road, close to the same scene, another 40-foot lorry also broke down, worsening gridlock in that axis.
The problem was compounded by the high volume of vehicles plying the road, as commuters usually rushed out to beat the sit-at-home imposed on residents every Monday by some militants.
An official of the FRSC, who did not mention his name, lamented the chaotic traffic situation, saying the state did not have the equipment to remove the fallen tanker.
He said the agency had called for a crane from a neighbouring state.
“You can see that we are battling the situation, which is made worse by another broken down lorry over there and we can only urge the motoring public to take caution and obey directives,” he added.
A motorist, whose vehicle also broke down on the road, Mrs Ifeyinwa Ezeh, faulted the state government for not providing a crane to remove the tanker.
Ezeh said, “The suffering on this road is too much. Since Friday, this tanker is still here. The incoming governor has a lot of work to do and thankfully, he has acknowledged it. We will want him to invest in critical infrastructure to avoid this kind of situation.”
As of the time of filing this report, the tanker had yet to be removed from the road.
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