The roadblock worsened on Sunday when the trailer drivers blocked farmlands and communities, apparently to ensure that no vehicle would enter or leave the state.
The drivers urged the Niger State government to reopen the Bida-Minna road, saying they would not suspend their protest until the road is opened.
They regretted that the state government had blocked the Minna-Bida road in the past six months, making them to take the Bida-Lapai- Lambata road, which the drivers said had become a nightmare.
A statement by Information and Strategy Commissioner Muhammad Sani Idris said the plying of heavy-duty vehicles on the road would damage the sections that had been repaired.
The commissioner said the trailer drivers cannot hold the government to ransom by demanding the opening of the road.
“The Governor Abu Sani Bello administration is determined that the road construction must go on and, as such, opening the Minna-Bida road to heavy-duty vehicles is not an option for now, for that would destroy everything the government has done and taxpayers’ money would be wasted redoing what was already done,” the statement said.
Trailer drivers demonstrating their displeasure against the government yesterday blocked all the entry and exit into Niger State from the western and eastern parts of Nigeria.
Their move left many stranded and caused the wastage of perishable goods worth millions of naira.
The protest had started on Friday in Bida and it continued on Saturday when the protesters blocked the road at Lambata.
