Umahi Orders Reconstruction Of Benin-Asaba Highway, Reopens First Niger Bridge With CCTV, Solar Lights

The Federal Government on Thursday reopened the First Niger Bridge linking Asaba, Delta State and Onitsha, Anambra State, after 38 days of closure for major rehabilitation, with new CCTV cameras, solar-powered streetlights and security observation centres installed to protect the 60-year-old structure.

Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, who performed the reopening at the Onitsha end of the bridge, said the intervention was part of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to preserving critical national infrastructure connecting the South-South and South-East.

Umahi said the bridge was shut on September 7 after discovery of vandalised expansion joints, missing bolts and nuts on steel components, and other structural concerns capable of undermining its integrity.

According to him, the rehabilitation works included repair of steel components, resurfacing, installation of median barriers, three designated turnaround points for emergency and breakdown management, solar lights and CCTV cameras for 24-hour surveillance.

He disclosed that security observation centres have been established at both ends of the bridge to monitor activities on and beneath the structure and to prevent vandalism and excessive loading.

The Minister warned against indiscriminate sand dredging around federal bridges, saying government regulations prohibit dredging within a 10-kilometre radius, and expressed concern that dredging was ongoing dangerously close to the First Niger Bridge.

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He directed federal controllers in Delta and Anambra to enforce the ban immediately, warning that officials who fail to act would face disciplinary measures.

On the deteriorating Benin-Asaba Expressway, Umahi announced that President Tinubu has directed a comprehensive redesign and reconstruction of the highway, disclosing that the Federal Government has cancelled an ongoing remedial contract covering the first 11 kilometres over poor quality of work.

He also announced plans for reconstruction of about 400 kilometres of the East-West Road as a spur of the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, and said the 17.5-kilometre Second Niger Bridge bypass valued at about N172 billion was already under construction.

Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, represented by Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, commended President Tinubu for prompt response, saying three visits by the Minister within two months showed seriousness.

“If this bridge is allowed to collapse, it will not just affect movement between South and East, it will also affect economies of both regions,” Oborevwori said.

The Asagba of Asaba, Obi Prof. Epiphany Azinge, SAN, described the rehabilitation as the second most comprehensive intervention since the bridge was built shortly before the Civil War, saying it would extend its useful life.

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