Calabar community decries govt neglect

Residents of communities around the Ikot-Ekpo area of Calabar Municipality have decried the Cross River State Government’s neglect of the 10-kilometre Ekabo Road.

According to the residents, there are about 300,000 people living in the area.

They said several pleas to Governor Liyel Imoke and his predecessor, Mr. Donald Duke, in the last 12 years had not been responded to.

The road which runs through the length of Ikot-Ekpo community is located around the Eight Miles area of Calabar.

The road leads to Bakoko and Ekabo communities.

Mr. Tony Ajie, a resident of the area and an okada rider said, “The state government has been unfair to us because they abandoned this road to the extent that we feel neglected.

 “The road is bad to the extent that you spend up to 50 per cent of what you generate to repair and any day rain falls, people trek home. For those of us that have managed to use our motorcycles on the road, we are constantly being chased by the government task force set up to apprehend motorbikes within the metropolis.”

Also, a former member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Nya Asuquo, who resides at the Ikot-Ekpo community, said he had used his position to put pressure on the immediate past and present governments in the state to repair the road to no avail.

However, Commissioner for Works, Mr. Legor Idagbo, said contract for the construction of the road had been awarded under the Rural Access and Mobility Project in collaboration with the state government.

He said the contracting firm had been given two weeks to commence work, adding that failure to comply with that directive would lead to termination of the contract.