The Okemesi community in Ekiti West Local Government, Ekiti State, has raised alarm over the looming danger following the diversion of traffic to the roads linking the town due to their poor state.
The National Publicity Secretary, Federation of Okemesi Improvement Union, Abraham Adeleye, said the roads particularly those linking Imesi to Osun State borders and suburbs were not in good condition and impassable for heavy-duty vehicles if accidents were to be prevented.
Adeleye, in a statement titled, ‘Ekiti Bad Roads: Okemesi roads collapsing too, community calls for caution over diversion of traffic’, alerted the general public, the government and commuters to the impending dangers in using the road if certain measures were not put in place as a matter of urgency.
The community stated, “Passage of heavy-duty vehicles is not advisable in particular along Okemesi – Osun State borders and suburbs so as to prevent avoidable accidents.
“The bridges linking Okemesi with Esa-Oke and Imesi-Ile require patience and good driving skills by cars in order not to run into the ditch created by erosion and years of neglect. Should an articulated vehicle attempt to pass the same route, it could cause accidents or even total collapse of the bridge.
“The ancient bridge on River Osun linking Ijero to Okemesi Ekiti is also suffering the same fate and the rate of vibration of recent is alarming. We would not want our community to be mentioned for any mishap, hence the need for this alert.
“We call on government at all levels to come to our aid and fix all damaged portions of the roads so that we are not cut off from the world as the effects on our agrarian economy would not be palatable,” the community stated.
Recall that owing to the collapse of some roads in the state and ongoing rehabilitation works, the Federal Road Safety Corps had last week announced, “Those coming to Ado should take Efon – Okemesi – Ijero -Ido – Ado Ekiti. Vehicles coming through Ifaki Ekiti should divert at Ifaki Ekiti junction and follow Ifaki – Ido – Ijero – Ikoro – Okemesi – Efon Alaaye. This is only for smaller vehicles as reported by the site engineer”.
The FRSC, which alerted the public to the risk associated with Efon -Ikogosi route, had said, “The possible and safe route is Efon – Okemesi and Ifaki – Ijero-Okemesi – Iwaraja/Ilesa.”
