Nigerian students have given President Muhammadu Buhari a 14-day ultimatum to fix the Abeokuta-Sango-Ota-Lagos highway. The students under the auspices of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS) gave the deadline.
The students issued the ultimatum as they bemoaned the deplorable condition of the expressway, threatening to shut it down if the government does not work on it before the deadline.
According to the students: “the road has now turned into a death trap and the hotspots of kidnappers and armed robbers,”
They said that there is no longer any concern for the safety of drivers and other road users, particularly children at the several educational institutions situated along the route and in Abeokuta, the state capital.
Oluwagbemileke Ogunrombi, National President of NAOSS and Damilola Simeon, Chairman of NANS in Ogun, jointly issued a statement on Sunday lamenting the incessant loss of lives on the road. “No fewer than 10 lives were lost recently in various traffic accidents that occurred as a result of the appalling condition of the road.”
They claimed that two D.S. Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic students were recently abducted by unidentified gunmen along the route, as armed robbers and kidnappers have exploited the bad condition of the road wreaking havoc on unwary members of the public.
They highlighted that because of the constant armed robberies and kidnappings carried out by persons from the underworld alongside the road, the lives and property of drivers, other road users, and locals are no longer safe.
“We are pained by the insensitivity and wickedness of the Federal Government to subject inhabitants of the state to unfathomable suffering by not fixing the despicable Lagos-Sango-Abeokuta route,” the statement continued.
“Our people have been going through hell for years, notably the thousands of students who travel the roads every day. The highway has turned into a death trap for drivers and passengers, and armed robbers and kidnappers no longer pose a threat to their safety.” He added
“Not a week goes by without reports of accidents, armed robbery and kidnapping on the road. We are worried by these unpleasant occurrences and we want to call on the Federal Government to commence reconstruction of the road within the next 14 days, failure which the government will incur the wrath of the Nigerian students.”
“We can no longer stand by and fold our arms while people continue to die on the road. The government at the top has failed our people woefully. The blood of those who have lost their lives on that road is on the hands of the Federal Government.”
