By THOMPSON YAMPUT

Motorists plying the Abuja-Lokoja Highway may now heave a sigh of relief as the two articulated trucks that combined with flood to render the road impassable at Koton-Karfe in Kogi, have been removed.

The two trucks were towed off the road on Saturday.

The trucks, one with NNPC inscription on it, and another articulated vehicle broke down almost adjacent each other at Koton-Karfe close to Lokoja on Friday resulting in a total blockage of the flooded highway.

FRSC Sector Commander in Kogi, Mr Stephen Dawulung, made the development known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Koton-Karfe, Kogi.

“The cheering news this Saturday morning is that the efforts of a combined team of military and paramilitary operatives including the FRSC, the Civil Defence and vigilante group have paid off.

“The fuel in the tanker was first off-loaded into another tanker, which also pulled the first one off the flooded road on Friday night.

“Equally, the second truck was immediately towed off thereby creating space for motorists to continue managing the already fragile road.

“As it is, the gullies created on the road due to the wearing effect of the flood, has made it difficult for two heavy vehicles to pass at the same time in opposite directions,’’ he explained.

Dawulung noted that vehicular movement was still very slow across the flooded road since a long gridlock had been caused at both ends over the last few days.

The sector commander said the queue of articulated vehicles from Koton-Karfe, in-bound Lokoja had reached Felele Quarters, a distance of almost 20 kilometres.

“It is the same scenario at the Gegu end from Koton-Karfe, in-bound Abuja subjecting motorists and commuters to untold hardships.

“This explains why the FRSC advised motorists to use alternative routes like Lafia-Makurdi-Otukpo for those traveling to the south-eastern part and Minna-Mokwa-Jebba route for travellers to the south-western parts.

“Our advice is informed by the need to alert road users not to get into the Lokoja gridlock even though the flood is receding gradually,’’ Dawulung said. (NAN)

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