Following the deplorable state of some portions of Ikpa Road where the main and annex campuses of the University of Uyo are located, some tricycle riders, yesterday, volunteered some repair works on the road to ease the pain and suffering of students and other commuters using the road daily.

The tricycle riders who mobilised themselves to the failed portions with their spades, said the voluntary repair works were an interventionist effort by a few of them who had foreseen accidents that could claim lives, particularly those of the university students who use the road daily.

In view of this, they said they were moved by compassion to work on those failed portions, having not seen any response from the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Works and Fire Service, or its maintenance agency, Akwa Ibom State Roads and Other Infrastructure Maintenance Agency (AKROIMA) to fix back those failed sections.

Mr. Etim Udo, one of the tricycle riders who spoke to our correspondent said he volunteered along with others to carry out the repair works to save situations, considering the slow response of the relevant ministry and agency to issues that border on deplorable states of roads in the state.

He said the bad road had caused frequent breakdown of their tricycles and also affected their transportation business, as some students would prefer to trek, rather than pay the N200 the Tricycle Riders Association had fixed as a fare along the Road.

“ Since we ply this road everyday, we decided to carry out repair works. The Ministry of Works and Fire Service will not do anything if we wait for them. You know how slow they response to calls from the masses.

“ The way the road was before we came here was so sad. Our “keke” was breaking down everyday, and the students who are our major patronisers refused to board our keke because our charge is N200 per drop”.

Another tricycle rider, Mr. Matthew Udoh, who bared his mind, said the road was in a good shape until few months ago when heavy duty vehicles coming in from Calabar, Cross River State, began to ply on it.

Mr. Udoh blamed the situation on the Akwa Ibom State Government and Ministry of Works and Fire who announced the Ikpa Road as one of the alternative routes to be used, following the closure of the Calabar/ Itu Road dual carriageway for an underground drainage construction.

A commuter who gave his name as Ejike Nwosu appreciated the tricycle riders for taking up the initiative to fix the failed portions as they could.

He however blamed the deplorable state of the road on the Ministry of Works and Fire Service whom he said awarded a contract for a drainage system that had taken eternity to complete, a situation that subjected Ikpa Road to the use of all kinds of heavy duty vehicles.

Recall that on May 20, 2024, Ministry of Works and Fire Service, through its Commissioner, Mr. Eno Ibanga, released a statement announcing the closure of the Calabar / Itu Road until further notice. This announcement, he said, was to allow for excavation work for the construction of a drainage system on the road.

The statement had also announced the use of Ikpa Road as one of the alternative routes to be used by vehicles.