Fear Grips Motorists, Community As Ozuma Bridge Collapse Under a Week In Kogi

By Noah Ocheni, Lokoja

Kogi state is now at the centre of criticism as the newly-built bridge, “the Ozuma bridge in OKENGWE”, in Okene local government area collapsed barely one week after construction.

It’s sad, dangerous and it posses fears as the entire state has been thrown into confusion over the collapse of Ozuma bridge constructed in less than a week at the home town of Governor Yahaya Bello.

In a statement signed by the Media and Communication, the PDP in Kogi state, blamed the government for using substandard materials, which gulped several millions of naira under another wasteful scheme, better described as a conduit pipe, which has exposed road users lives to unnecessary dangers.

“It is unfortunate that the administration of Yahaya Bello could not point to any completed project since it came to power, five years ago”.

“We therefore, advice Yahaya Bello to borrow a leave from the PDP in the state on how it successfully completed the notorious Meme bridge and others, without exposing the lives our good people to any danger.”

The PDP therefore called on the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) and Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) to come to our aid in Kogi state to avoid other impending dangers to human lives arising from other sub standard construction projects, to ensure that standards are complied with.

Investigation, however, revealed that the contractors of the project used 10mm rebar for the bridge’s reinforcement while, 10mm rebars are used for domestic and smaller-scale projects like driveways which bear minimal loads.

For large-scale projects like bridge construction, rebar with a higher diameter is necessary, especially for durability.

Fortunately, no life was lost and no one sustained serious injury.