By Abel Leonard Nzwanke, Lafia.
The Lafia-Akwanga highway in Nasarawa has been opened to commuters, following the successful blasting of rocks by the construction company working on the dualisation of the road.
The construction firm, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), had issued a statement alerting the public of plans to blast rocks around Nasarawa-Eggon between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on September 2.
The company advised commuters to exercise caution or take alternative routes within the period.
As at the time of filing this report, our reporter observed that the road had been opened to commuters, with traffic flowing freely.
Eche Amos, a commuter who witnessed the exercise, told journalists that the rock blast began a few minutes past 10 a.m. and lasted for about one hour.
Mr Amos, who said that the road was shut within the period, added that commuters were kept at a distance of about one kilometre from the scene of the blast.
“The traffic build-up occasioned by the temporary closure has eased off at the moment,” he said.
Mr Amos pointed out that traffic on the road was not as heavy as it used to be, attributing it to the early warning by the company.
Aliyu Ibrahim, one of the commercial drivers plying the route, said that the alert by the company had affected their businesses for the day in terms of passengers’ turnout.
Mr Ibrahim noted that contrary to the people’s expectation, the road was not closed for eight hours as some people said. He commended the company for the prior warning as such blast could be misinterpreted and cause panic that could result in fatality.
