The Federal Government has expressed concern that if miscreants continue to vandalize the metal components of the 2nd Niger Bridge, it may be closed.
Mr. Mahmuda Mamman, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, mentioned this on Sunday when visiting the bridge to assess the amount of vandalism.
He urged security authorities to increase monitoring on the Bridge to deter miscreants who, he claimed, were targeting the mental components.
“We’ve come to see the level of vandalism on the 2nd Niger Bridge,” he explained. It was sad that we all awoke to the trending news of the vandalism of several metal components on the bridge.
“This is a massive investment made by the Federal Government to facilitate the flow of goods and services into Nigeria.” To me, free movement is a fundamental human right, and we must all work together to protect it.
“We have communicated with the project’s contractor, Julius Berger, and it is extremely unfortunate.” The federal government has done exactly what it was expected to do.
“We have written to the relevant security agencies, asking them to increase surveillance along the road so that such incidents do not occur.”
“At the same time, host communities have a role to play because safeguarding national claims is a collective responsibility, not the responsibility of one man.”
“What the miscreants are after are the metal components on the bridge; the miscreants are after anything metal.”
“At the end of the day, if caution is not exercised, the entire bridge will become impassable.”
“That is why it is important for us as stakeholders to ensure that we protect this infrastructure in the interest of the public good and the nation.”
“We have interfaced with the contractor, and he said the major challenge is security concerns,” he added of the project’s delay.
“With the recent developments, we are hoping that, all things being equal, that is the commitment he gave us: everything about the 2nd Niger Bridge will be completed in the next three weeks.”
