Vehicular movements from and to Lagos and Abuja have been hampered following total collapse of a bridge at Ijan Ekiti township road in Gbonyin Local Government Area of the State.

The bridge located in front of Saint Paul’s Anglican Primary School, in the heart of the town, collapsed on Saturday due to torrential downpour. Consequently, commuting from Ekiti East to the Akoko area in Ondo State as well as other neighbouring towns in Ekiti has become a herculean task.

Also affected are Iluomoba, Agbado, Aisegba, Imesi and Ode Ekiti, as well those travelling out of the state to Ondo, Kogi states and the Federal capital territory. The bridge, built during the military era in the old Ondo State, was said to have caved in due to persistent erosion and increasing movements of heavy duty vehicles along Ado-Ijan-Omuo-Kabba Abuja federal road. The incident had affected free follow of vehicles along that route, as motorists had to resort to other alternative roads to manoeuvre their ways from Ijan to Iluomoba up to Irun in Ondo State. The same scenario was witnessed in 2019 along Erio-Efon-Iwaraja road in Ekiti West Local Government Area. A member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), who plies Ado-Ijan-Ikare road, Talabi Adeyemo, regretted reduction in their income and damage to their vehicles as a result of the collapsed bridge and deplorable state of the road. Also, a trailer driver with a Dangote group, who spoke in confidence, lamented that his truck had spent several days along the route because of the collapsed bridge. Others said their usual route along Ondo State was no longer motorable, hence the use of Ekiti routes as alternative. Regretting the situation, the Osodi of Ijan Ekiti, High Chief Kehinde Ojo, appealed to Federal and State governments to promptly reconstruct the collapsed bridge to restore normalcy on that road. Ojo, who is the acting traditional head of Ijan Ekiti, pending the appointment of a Regent, stated this in a letter written to the state government on the need to take prompt action on the collapsed bridge.