Evomec Global Services Limited (EGSL) says its intervention on the Akiama Road in 2021 did not include the bridge which has now collapsed and was done free of charge in the interest of the community.

EGSL’s Project/Logistics Manager, Prince Ofre told Kristina Reports on Tuesday, August 22, 2023 that when contacted on the challenges of inaccessibility of the area by the medical emergency services and security agencies, his company opted to reconstruct the failed sections of the road with a view to easing traffic and enhancing vehicular movement in that axis of the island.

He stated that the project then did not include the bridge, stressing that “Evomec did not touch the bridge as it was not part of the areas identified for us to work on,” disclosing that “when the Navy called us, we went there by intervention. This was actually a free of charge job that we went there to do”.

“The navy personnel, a rating, I think the guy had a gunshot or something and they were trying to take him to a hospital and they had to take him round the back of the Polytechnic, before they could do all that, the guy died.”

“So, they came with that story to us and we were very sympathetic about it and then we tried to work that section of the road, not the culvert because nothing happened to the culvert as at then. It was just a section of the road.”

“So, now, last month, when the (LGA) Chairman called us that the road we did, the culvert we built; that the culvert is collapsing again ooo, that we should come and see. So, when we went there with the local government team, we were able to show them that we didn’t work on the bridge. This was like three weeks ago.”

“We were able to convince them that, no, we didn’t work on the culvert. What we did was the section of the road, the concrete road; it has section by section. We didn’t touch the bridge at all. If it was something that we had to have worked on the bridge, if the bridge was the issue, of course, we would have done a better job.”

He asserted that Evomec was never given a contract to work on the road as is being speculated on social media, emphasising that what was requested and what EGSL did was fix the failed sections of the road and not the bridge.

“So, now, people going on social media to say that Evomec was given a contract to build that bridge, and then it failed; that is not the truth. We need that part to be verified on social media that the part we worked on is the road, that is the main road, was where we worked, we didn’t touch the bridge.”

“People need to understand that and understand that contrary to what they are saying on social media, it wasn’t a contract, it was an FOC, free of charge work.”

“The intervention work done by Evomec was not on the bridge. The road had separated into two with a deep gully separating the road before you get to the bridge. We swung into action to ensure the two parts of the road were connected and also ensured same does not happen to that section of the road again.”

Recall that Kristina Reports had reported that given the collapse of the road and its consequent closure by the then Supervisor for Works in Bonny Local Government Council, Daniel Wilcox-Buruwi for almost a year and the attendant hardship such closure subjected commuters in the area to, the Nigerian Navy reached out and secured an understanding with Evomec Global Services Limited to reconstruct the failed sections of the road.

The project was delivered pro bono by EGSL and was reopened to the public by the then Commanding Officer of the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base (NN FOB), Capt. Badamasi Yahuza, on Monday, February 1, 2021, effectively easing the difficulties faced by commuters then.

Speaking during the reopening of the road, Capt. Yahuza told Kristina Reports that the partnership between the Nigerian Navy (NN) and Evomec Global Services Limited (EGSL) that saw to the reconstruction of the collapsed section of the Akiama Bridge was aimed at reducing the suffering of commuters and improve the livelihoods of the people and communities in the area.

“It’s actually a partnership. We initiated the work and we followed up with all necessary support from EVOMEC. So, it is a collective and collaborative effort. It’s not just the Nigeria Navy.”

“The whole idea is that the people of Bonny Island and particularly Akiama Street, has been suffering for close to a year now. For them to go to their place of work, they need to travel extra miles before they get to their offices, including us.”

On his part, Chairman of Bonny LGA, David Irimagha, who spoke through the then Secretary to the Bonny Local Government Council, Omoni Long-John, who is now the LGA Vice Chairman, said he gave approval for the reconstruction of the collapsed section of the road in line with his administration’s drive to prioritize the wellbeing of the people of the area.

Evomec Global Services Limited, a leader in multidisciplinary Engineering, Construction and Logistics projects delivery, is an indigenous limited liability company actively engaged in diverse sectors of the Nigerian and international markets and also an emerging indigenous Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) provider for major industry players in sub-Saharan Africa.

It remains one of the foremost environmentally compliant oil and gas servicing firm in Nigeria with a well consolidated profile in executing its client awarded projects in an environmentally adherent manner.