Commuters, motorists stranded as Minna-Bida road collapses due to heavy downpour (photos/video)

Hundreds of passengers and scores of vehicles were on Monday, stranded following the collapse of a portion of the Minna to Bida road in Niger State.

Motorists were now left in dilemma as crossing from Kakapangi to Minna or vice versa has become almost impossible.

The collapse of the road which has now become an annual event was a result of a heavy downpour in the last week.

A long queue of vehicles had been formed on both sides of the road.

According to the findings, some of the private and commercial vehicles plying the road either returned to Bida or Minna.

In the same vein, those coming from the Bida end had been forced to follow the longer route from  Lemu to Zungeru and down to Minna.

The vehicles from Minna end, according to the findings, turned back to follow the longer route of Minna- Lapai -Agaie – Bida road.

Articulated vehicles that could not turn at the damaged section of the road hired locals to evacuate their goods into hired vehicles at the other end.

Some of those caught in the web of the tragedy were those going to Bida to felicitate with the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, on his 70th birthday and 19th year of the ascension of the throne of his forbears.

The Niger Government on Sept. 18, 2018 awarded a contract for the dualisation of the 84kms Minna – Bida road to an indigenous construction firm, Dantata and Sawoe.

Experts however said that the work had only reached 5 per cent of execution.