By Onyekachi Eze
It is not the best of times to ply within Owerri city, as residents and motorists decry road blockage in all the entry routes to the metropolis.
Apart from the current insecurity witnessed in the nook and cranny of Owerri, the Imo State capital, bordering on killings, murder, arson and kidnapping, another nightmare facing the inhabitants is blockage of Owerri roads which was led to heavy traffic.
Reason for that may not be unconnected to the attacks on police formations in the State, as well as that of the correctional centre after the last incident on Easter Monday where no fewer than 1,880 prison inmates were freed by unknown gunmen.
Trumpeta Newspaper reliably gathered that as a measure to checkmate the excess inflow of persons and vehicles, some major roads were barricaded with tyres and logs of wood by security agencies.
This approach therefore paved way for heavy traffic gridlock in some places.
It was also suspected that due to the serious security lapses rocking the State, which allegedly made the number one citizen to shift ground to Abuja, many security presence were recorded.
The joint security of Army, Police, DSS and NSCDC were seen on the streets of Owerri to maintain law and order, as the identity of the “unknown gunmen” are yet to be ascertained.
The latest cause of the fresh traffic jam as monitored by this Newspaper is the demolition and ongoing reconstruction of roundabouts.
The administration of Governor Hope Uzodinma had demolished roundabouts constructed by his predecessor, Rochas Okorocha, on account of substandard nature and poorly executed jobs.
In the cause of replacing the roundabout infrastructure, hell was let lose, hence causing heavy jam.
Affected places of the blockage as at the last count include the ever busy Government House/Bank Road/Okigwe road, Warehouse/ Assumpta Avenue, Wetheral road/MCC/Emmanuel College roads.
Motorists and commuters who do not find the situation funny while speaking to Trumpeta correspondent on Tuesday frowned at the situation.
While applauding the government for trying to beautify the city, they blamed him for not mounting enough traffic warders in all the affected places, at least to ease off the congestion.
It was further learnt that workers and business moguls were stalked at a place, and majority of them losing their daily engagements.
