Commuters on the ever-busy Benin-Sapele Highway can now heave a sigh of relief as the management of the Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Limited has carried out further repair works on failed sections of the expressway.
The Benin-Sapele highway, it would be recalled, has become a nightmare in recent times for commuters, especially at the Iyanomo, Ekosa, Obayantor Ologbo, and Koko junction in Delta, which had almost totally collapsed, thus necessitating the intervention of the petrochemical company.
Commuters and other users of the highways spend days on the bad spots along the corridor due to the deplorable state of the highway, which links the rest of the country to the core Niger Delta States from Edo to Bayelsa and Rivers.
The palliative works by the management of the Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Limited are to prevent trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles plying the highway from falling on the road.
The palliative work was done at various sections of the road, like Iyanomo, Ekosa, Obayantor Ologbo and Koko junction in Delta State.
The Head of Technical Operations of the refinery, Segun Okeini, said the intervention was to prevent the occurrence of the fire incident that happened five years ago, when a truck carrying PMS at one of the bad spots in Ologbo, with the ensuing conflagration killing over 20 people, with many others injured.
Okeini, who noted that the failed sections were almost like they were before the incident, added that the company decided to act promptly to repair the spot after the accident.
The failed portions, he disclosed, had been affecting the firm’s operations as tankers spent days on the highway before gaining access to the refinery to load products.
‘Our refinery is just about two kilometers ahead. And this area happens to be part of the area of coverage of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
‘They approached us to help them fix the failed section because most of their people cannot go out of the area. Our Chairman was around during that period, and he saw the level of damage to the road, and even on that same day, we have like five trucks that fell along the road. He authorised that we should just undertake this.’ He stated.
Okeini disclosed that while the failed portions had no direct impact on the refinery’s production, he added that since the blocked road could prevent trucks coming for loading product at the refinery, the company decided to carry out the palliative repairs for the benefit of all the users of the highway.
On his part, the Managing Director of SODEOSA Global Resources, Solomon Uyiekpen, said commuters experienced suffering on the road before the intervention.
Uyiekpen said he collaborated with the Edo Refinery to fix the road as a CSR to the communities around the area.
A member of the Obayantor community, Kennedy Nwazekwu, who expressed joy at the repair works, said the repair work would stop incessant accidents on the road.
Nwazekwu recalled with sadness that over 20 people had died at the bad spot when their vehicles fell into the ditch at different times.