BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
Residents of Ilesa, a bustling town in Osun State, are now agitating against the decision of truck and tanker drivers plying the Akure-Ilesa Expressway to divert into the township road to avert potholes and craters along the highway, alleging that the heavy duty vehicles are already damaging the roads within the town.
Those inhabiting Sabo, Irojo and Health Tech area of the town where the trucks and tankers ply claimed that they were the most affected by the development.
Apart from degrading the roads, they alleged that the trucks endangered the lives of school children and other passersby.
They also accused the truck drivers of causing traffic gridlock and daring to attack whoever challenged them for destroying the road kerbs and electric poles.
Recently, some aggrieved residents of the town protested against the continuous use of the Sabo-Irojo and the Brewery- Ijamo-Roundabout roads by the heavy trucks and tankers’ drivers.
The people said that since the Ilerin-Ileki -Igila axis of the Ilesa/Akure Expressway went bad, trucks had invaded the Ilesa township. They expressed concern about the drivers’ misconducts, alleging them of over-speeding and damaging the roads.
As things stand, some of the aggrieved youths of the affected communities have mobilised themselves to prevent heavy duty vehicles from plying the streets.
There was fracas recently between the youths and some of the drivers over the decision of the former to barricade the roads.
The inhabitants of the area urged the government to draft road traffic officials to the route to impose sanction on truck drivers found to be abusing their right in order to avoid crisis in the area.
In an interview with The Point, a community leader, Adebayo Fagbulu, expressed displeasure over the damage being caused to the high tension pole at Sabo by the truck drivers.
As a result of the damage to the pole, he said that the Sabo community had been plunged into darkness.
According to Fagbulu, but for the quick intervention of the police from Ijamo B’ Divisional Headquarters, a recent clash between youths and drivers could have been bloody.
He said, “We (residents) have been complaining for the past one month of the recklessness of the tanker and truck drivers on the roads. They forget that the roads are within the town where children and elderly ones pass. They are reckless as they dominate the roads and bully other road users.
“Last week, one of the truck drivers damaged an electric pole along the Sabo-Irojo road. As a result of this, the community has been plunged into darkness. After damaging the Akure-Ilesa expressway, they move to the township roads being newly rehabilitated. We won’t take it.
“Our youths have said that they can no longer take it again. That led to the recent protest. We thank God that the police arrived at the scene on time to avert bloody clash.
“I want to call on the federal government to direct the Federal Road Maintenance Agency to repair the Irojo and Brewery junctions axis of the Ilesa-Akure Road so that the articulated vehicles can stop plying the township road.”
The Commissioner for Works and Transport in Oaun State, Remi Omowaiye, said that the diversion from the highway into the township gave cause for concern in view of the adverse effect of having a large fleet of trucks in the town.
He urged the inhabitants of Ilesa to exercise patience stating that the federal government had approved the rehabilitation of the Ife-Ilesa Express Road.
FERMA, he said, should commence the repairs of the road to salvage the situation.
