By Brightest Okuta
Nigerian Army soldiers on Wednesday mounted a major roadblock that left residents of Karu, Nyanya, Mararaba, Jikwoyi, Orozo, Karshi, Kurudu, Koroduma, Ado, New Nyanya, Gwandara, New Karu, and Masaka stranded.
The stern-looking soldiers from Abacha Barracks stopped motorists from going in and out of Abuja causing a major gridlock.
Motorists who were on their way to work were stopped and searched by soldiers.
As at press time, the traffic had metamorphosed into a crisis, having reached Goshen village, a town of 20 kilometers away, close to Keffi.
One of the residents who works in Central Area of Abuja said he has been on the road since 4am. “I have been on this road since 4am and there has been no movement. It is complete standstill. One woman even vomited inside the vehicle.
He added that, “The driver had to give everyone their money back and he asked them to alight because the vehicle was overheating, adding that, “Abuja is not for the poor or else I would have walked there.”
Chronicle NG reports that frustrated commercial and private vehicle owners trapped in the terrible gridlock were seen abandoning their vehicles.
Although it is not entirely clear why the army blocked the road, a Civil Defence officer who was riding on a power bike told Chronicle NG that the intelligence gathered revealed that Shiites protestors were on a mission to storm Abuja today.
But according to a roadside black market fuel seller in Kugbo Mechanic Village, the reason for the roadblock and subsequent stop and search was because two Chinese workers were kidnapped yesterday.
“I heard that two Chinese men were abducted yesterday. They are construction workers who were working on this road,” he said.
“The soldiers from this checkpoint (pointing at an old military checkpoint mounted in 2014 after the Nyanya bombing of April 14 2014) called others from Abacha barracks to for backup,” he added.
He noted that, “People say the traffic has even reached Keffi in Nasarawa state and who knows how long this will last, ” he said.
Recall that unknown gunmen stormed UniAbuja quarters and kidnapped a professor in economics department, his children and others.
Some believe that the army action might not be unconnected to the fact that the FCT is no longer safe again and maximum security needs to be put in place especially these areas with high population.
Due to the daily traffic on the road, there has been an ongoing dualization project on the road since 2019. Every day, Chinese men are seen working on the road to create an expansion and reduce the traffic.
Travelers going to Keffi, Makurdi, Jos, Lafia, Akwanga, Bauchi, Gboko will pass through the Abuja-Keffi road. This has made it a busy route and always traffic-locked even at night.
It’s a known fact that almost 65% of the working population in town live in these areas due to the relatively low cost of rent. The road is volatile to traffic as any little thing will cause traffic that will last for hours.
This is not the first time the Nigerian soldiers will mount roadblocks causing suffering to the citizens who live in these suburbs.
This is the 7th time this year alone. Other things that usually cause traffic are fallen tankers, spoilt vehicles, accidents etc.
