The Federal Government has lamented that the second Niger Bridge may be blocked if vandals continue to cart away its metal components.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr. Mahmuda Mamman, stated this on Sunday, when he paid an on-site assessment to the bridge to ascertain the level of vandalism.
He urged security agencies to intensify surveillance on the Bridge to curtail the activities of the miscreants, who he said were after the metal components.
Addressing journalists, Mamman said, “We are here to see the level of vandalism on the 2nd Niger Bridge. It was an unfortunate situation that all of us woke up to the trending news of vandalism of some metal components on the bridge.
“This is a massive investment put up by the Federal Government to ease the movement of goods and services to Nigeria. To me, free movement is a basic human right, and all of us must take collective responsibility to safeguard it.
“We have interfaced with the contractor handling the project, Julius Berger, and it is really unfortunate. The Federal Government has actually done what it is supposed to do.
“We have written to the security agencies concerned, asking them to intensify surveillance activities along the road so that such things will not happen.
“At the same time, host communities have a responsibility to play because safeguarding national assertions is not the responsibility of one man; it is a collective responsibility.
“What the miscreants are actually after are the metal components on the bridge; anything metal, the miscreants are after it.
“And at the end of the day, if care is not taken, the entire bridge will become unmotorable.
“That is why it is good for us as stakeholders to make sure we safeguard this infrastructure in the interest of the public good and the nation.”
On the delay in the completion of the project, he said: “We have interfaced with the contractor, and he said the major challenge is security concerns.
“With the recent development, we are hoping that all things being equal, that is the commitment he gave us, in the next three weeks everything about the 2nd Niger Bridge will be completed.
“The bridge is still under maintenance by the construction company that built it, and before the handing over, I am sure that most of the things that were vandalized are going to be replaced.”
