File: A Flooded street

Commuters traveling through Lafia- Akwanga Federal Highway were on Friday left stranded for over six hours, following the heavy rain that flooded the bridge at Shabu near Lafia.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the rain, which began at the early hours of Friday was still drizzling at the time of this report.

Most of the commuters appealed to the Federal Government to find solution to the situation, which they attributed to the narrow nature of the bridge at that portion of the road.

Mr Wilberforce Alaku, a businessman, said he was going to Abuja and had been stock for hours waiting for the flood to subside as the bridge had been completely submerged.

“This has never happened in this place, we want the government to build a better bridge or create a bypass to serve as alternative along this axis, in case of occurrences like this,” Alaku said.

Another commuter, Rev. Steve Shama, described the situation as pathetic and called on the Federal Government to urgently address the situation, to avert the loss of man hours caused by the flood.

He expressed concern that if the situation was not addressed urgently, the road stood the risk of being washed off with another heavy rain.

“As you can see I am going to Abuja for a very important assignment and I have been trapped here for over two hours no way to pass,” Shama added.

Similarly, Mr Joshua Musa, a driver, going to Jos, expressed shock over the incident, saying the risk of plying the route was very high.

“The current of water here can wash off houses not to talk of vehicles, hence I am appealing to the government to work on this portion of the road by constructing a bridge here,” he said.

Mohammed Abdukadir, a resident of Shabu, said that they had never witnessed such flood in the area and appealed for government’s urgent intervention.

“As resident of Shabu, I have never seen such incident in this area and I am calling on the government to act quickly to avert further devastation and hardship for commuters along the road,” Abdulkadir said.

He also cautioned irrigation farmers in the area to desist from farming along the water ways to prevent blockage.

Meanwhile, when contacted Mr Taiwo Wasiu, Federal Controller of Works in charge of Nasarawa State, said he was away on an official assignment in Abuja.

He, however, said that he would reach out to his officers to assess the situation and proffer solution.