Nigeria: Major bridges at Bauchi demolished by flooding, cutting off the state from Abuja and other cities
Heavy rains on Thursday washed away the bridge connecting the Bauchi metropolis with the state's local Ninga Civic Region, according to Nanfan Joroh, an employee of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency. On Friday, he told the Nigeria News Agency in Bauchi that the damaged bridge is 88 km from Bauchi.
Jorokh said: "We were at the site of the bridge to inspect and determine the extent of the damage."
The Bauchi-Ningi Road connects Bauchi with the states of Kano and Jigawa.
Jorokh added that another bridge, located in Nabaddo village, 40 km from Bauchi on the Jos road in the local government district of Toro, was also washed away by heavy rainfall, leaving residents heading for Jos and Abuja disconnected from the road.
Jorokh said FERMA has mobilized people and materials to the affected bridges to take urgent remedial action until permanent solutions are found.
He urged motorists using the damaged roads to drive carefully to avoid hitting the damaged parts of the bridges, saying: "At the moment, traffic on the affected areas is limited."
When contacted, Alhaji Abdullahi Mohammed, chairman of the Nigeria Road Transport Employers' Association in the state, called on the federal government to expedite repairs to the damaged bridges.
Mohammed said the affected roads serve as a link to neighboring states of Jigawa, Kano and Plateau, saying, "These states are strategically important, especially given the economic activity between them and Bauchi."
