FG says it’ll close down 2nd Niger Bridge if…

• The federal government says it may have to shut down the bridge if miscreants and scavengers continue with the destruction of it
• Mahmuda Mamman noted that the bridge may become impassable and vehicular activities on it will not be impossible if such destructive acts continues

The Federal Government has bemoaned the vandalising and stealing of the metal components of the Second Niger Bridge.

The federal government says it may have to shut down the bridge if miscreants and scavengers continued with the destruction of the bridge.

Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr. Mahmuda Mamman made this known on Sunday when he visited the bridge to ascertain the level of the recent vandalization of the metal components.

He called on security agencies to intensity surveillance on the bridge to curtail the activities of the miscreants who he said were after the mental components.

He noted that the bridge may become impassable and vehicular activities on it will not be impossible if such destructive act continues.

He said: “We are here to see the level of vandalization of the Second Niger Bridge. It was an unfortunate situation that all of us woke up to the trending news of vandalization of some metal components on the bridge.

“This is a massive investment put up by the Federal Government in order to ease movement of goods and services to Nigeria. To me, free movement is a basic human right and all of us must take collective responsibility to safeguard it

“We have interfaced with the contractor handling the project, Julius Berger and it is really unfortunate. The Federal Government has actually done what it is supposed to do.

“We have written to security agencies concerned asking them to intensify surveillance activities along the road so that such things will not happen.

“At the same time, host communities have a responsibility to play because safeguarding national asserts is not a responsibility of one man; it is a collective responsibility.

“What the miscreants are actually after, are the metal components on the bridge; anything metal, the miscreants are after it and it will be vandalized and at the end of the day, if care is not taken, the entire bridge will become unmotorable.

“That is why it is good for us as stakeholders to make sure we safeguard this infrastructure in the interest of public good and the nation.

“On the delay in the completion of the project, he said: “We have interfaced with the contractor and he said the major challenge why the project is not completed is because of security concerns.

“With the recent development, we are hoping that all things being equal, that is the commitment he gave us, in the next three weeks, everything about the Second Niger Bridge will be completed.

“The bridge is still under maintenance by the construction company that built it and before the handing over, l am sure that most of the things that were vandalized are going to be replaced.”