There was a chaos at River Niger bridge Onitsha following closure of the bridge with iron barrier making it difficult for both pedestal and motorists to cross over to either from Onitsha in Anambra state or Asaba in Delta State.
Daily Sun gathered the many people who were either going to Asaba or coming into Onitsha were stranded for hours as the COVID-19 Taskforce and security agencies at the bridge insisted that only those on essential duty would access the road.
It was gathered that the iron barrier was later opened for the free movement of both pedestals and motorists after much pressure.
Source said that another iron barrier put close to Asaba end of the bridge was pulled down by angry Deltans who saw it an affront on them without their consultation before putting such barricade at their own end.
It was allegedly said that the Executive Assistant to Governor Okowa on Youth Development Mr. Innocent IfeanyiChukwu Esewezie who is the coordinator for the Oshimili South, Delta state, interstate boundary lockdown and members of his team, were at the bridgehead to dismantled the barrier gate.
A member of the Anambra State COVID-19 task force who doesn’t want his name to be mentioned said that the iron barricade was put on Saturday night to both ends of the bridge to stop people that transport the virus into the state.
He said that the intention was to leave the gate open till about 8 pm in line with curfew by the president, when the gate would be closed and opened by 6 am, stressing that the idea was to stop night travelling and to stop people who sneak into the state at late hour.
A resident of Asaba, Mrs. Chinwe Nwuzor, lamented the hardship they suffered due to closure of the bridge against the residents, passersby and motorists, saying those doing business in Onitsha found it difficult to cross.
“We normally make use of pedestal but now they closed it completely with iron bars and we cannot use there again. So, now everybody is using the major road which is dangerous for us who uses the leg to cross. I’m appealing to them to reconsider opening the pedestal for free movement” he said