For Juliet, a resident of Zuba, a sprawling commuter belt of the Federal Capital Territory, who works in the metropolis of Abuja, coming back from work is usually a big deal and a sort of miracle that happens every good day.
Whenever it is time to leave for work or home after work, she gets cold, not because of the chores she would perform at home but because of the heart-ripping task of crossing the Dankogi segment of the Zuba-Kaduna Expressway. This junction on the very busy highway is a major point for the satellite town. A lot of business activities go on here – from banking to touting, street trading and those close to the illegal.
A regular chant of Kaduna! Kaduna!, Kano! Kano! by transporters greet you as you alight at the junction. If you navigate further, the small town boasts of various prominent transportation agencies like the Peace Mass Transit, Imo Transport Company and Teile Express. It seems at this spot, one gets vehicles that go to every part of the country. This explains the regular human and vehicular traffic congestion it receives as people from neighbouring towns like Kubwa, Dei-Die, Gwarinmpa and even the Abuja Metropolis flood the town for transportation services.
The highway with steady traffic that remains alive 24 hours is a battle residents must face everyday to and from work. Even the kids that go to school and elderly ones are not spared the agony and terror of crossing this deadly highway that cost the people lives, almost everyday. As many die in hits by fast moving vehicles, some others are luckier to sustain injuries.
Left to die
“What will it take for this segment of the Zuba-Kaduna Expressway to have a pedestrian bridge?” cried Emeka, an outraged resident of Zuba. This seems to be the question most residents of Zuba ask to, maybe, nobody in particular.
The high risk nature of the road has caused a lot of difficulties for users of the road. According to Mr. Dareh Johnson, a car driver, the road has brought misery to the numerous accident victims that increase everyday. “Actually this road is somehow dangerous for pedestrians that cross it to work and back,” he began. “A lot of times, vehicles knock down the people trying to cross the road and some will die instantly while some will lose vital parts of their body.”
This situation is made worse for children, the elderly people and strangers who have no idea of how to go about daring the road and remaining safe. But staying safe here is not merely about the knowledge to because there have been instances where petrol tankers and other trucks lost control of their vehicles and crashed into the crowd of human beings that mill around trading. There have been cases of tankers laden with inflammable liquids exploding into a ball of fire that burnt many people.
In the words of Mr Usman Mohammed, a commercial motorcycle rider who has been plying his trade around this death spot for 14 years, “It is not a small problem, people coming from Kaduna, Kano and Niger states stop by the other side of the road and to cross over is difficult, we cannot even convey them across the road with our bikes. So, it is very deadly because of the risk. The bike men usually ask the passengers to climb off and cross by themselves.”
Mr Mohammed Isah, a truck/car loader and ticket seller made comparison of the road to the popular Dei-Dei junction that has already received a pedestrian bridge and of how the rate of accident there has reduced significantly.
But some of the passengers had a slightly different view. According to Mr Uwaezoke Peter, a regular user of the road, “Many people asking the government to build pedestrian bridge here will eventually not use the bridge.” He continued: “There are these bridges from Dei-Dei to the Nicon Junction and people still prefer to risk their lives and run across the busy highway. So, it is not really about having the bridge in place, but there should also be enforcement agencies to ensure people actually use the bridge.”
There was a flood of pleas by the road users to the government to correct this wrong. From Mr Dareh, “We are begging the government; if they can build a flyover bridge here, we will be glad indeed. This is because the road is very dangerous for people crossing and you can see all these heavy trucks passing; it is an endless danger every minute of the day.
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