Niger residents urge FG, state to rebuild collapsed bridge

Residents of Babanna in Niger State have called on the federal and state governments to help rebuild the collapsed bridge that connects them to the Republic of Benin to ease trade and farming. Babanna is a border town between Nigeria in Borgu Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State and Benin Republic. A resident, Musa […]

Residents of Babanna in Niger State have called on the federal and state governments to help rebuild the collapsed bridge that connects them to the Republic of Benin to ease trade and farming.

Babanna is a border town between Nigeria in Borgu Local Government Area (LGA) of Niger State and Benin Republic.

A resident, Musa Lawan, said the economic activities of the community had been jeopardised by the collapsed bridge.

“Transporting our agricultural produce between the two countries is a lot difficult. Our farming activities will be on the low end because there are things taken across the border and there are things that are transported into the country using this bridge. That is difficult now with the rainy season,” he said.

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Another resident, Hajiya Hadiza Ahmed, said “We have been at the receiving end. Our sources of income have been threatened by the collapsed bridge. We may become poorer if there is no intervention from the government.”

When contacted, the Chairman of Borgu LGA, Alhaji Suleiman Yarima, said the local government was already collaborating with the state government to reconstruct the bridge.

“During the rainy season, farmers are faced with untold hardship as a result of the collapsed bridge. But efforts are underway to reconstruct the bridge before this year’s rainy season,” he said.

He said the government of Niger State had agreed to reconstruct the bridge as part of the developmental stride in the state.

On the killing of a nursing mother and her baby by a soldier on Monday, Yarima said he had sent a delegation to Niganji, the community of the victims in Benin Republic, with assurance that the soldier would be brought to face the law.

He called on the people of Babanna to remain calm as the Nigerian Army was on top of the situation and the culprit was being investigated.