Abandoned Nigeria’s Numan-Jalingo Road Traps Travellers For Criminals
Despite being a major highway in northeast Nigeria, the road has been neglected for over 35 years. It has become almost impassable for people and farm produce, leading to financial losses and a den for crime.
In Adamawa state, northeast Nigeria, Numan-Jalingo is a crucial highway that enables transportation, including farm produce from remote northeastern states, to markets across northern Nigeria. The major road is a treacherous stretch of red soil, billowing into choking dust during the dry season and turning into a muddy and messy route when the rains come. Its once smooth coal-tar surface has peeled away, leaving behind large potholes that test the mettle of even the hardiest vehicle.
Residents say the highway has been this way for more than 35 years.
Armed robbers and kidnappers have taken advantage of the road’s disrepair to hunt motorists, traders, and passengers.
“Just last week, we had to cough out ₦20,000 ($25) as ransom to free one of our kidnapped drivers,” Malam Yunusa, the Chairman of the Pick-up Van Unit at Numan Motor Park, told HumAngle. According to him, several drivers under his supervision have fallen prey to either kidnappings or armed robberies, causing the unit several financial losses amounting to hundreds of thousands in recent months.
Most drivers now avoid travelling between dusk and dawn to minimise risk.
The difficulties travellers face on that road were exacerbated by the recent increase in fuel pump prices, adding to the drivers’ woes.
With the authorities’ continued inaction, residents and commuters have lost hope that the road will ever be fixed.
Paid For, But Left Abandoned.
A HumAngle analysis of Nigeria’s Open Treasury Portal revealed that the federal government channelled millions of Naira in public funds into road rehabilitation between August 2018 and December 2021. Here’s a breakdown:
On October 19, 2018, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing paid ₦46,726,182.48 (~$60,000) to Cleomanix Global Service Ltd. for “emergency repairs” on the road. This payment was followed by an additional ₦117,244,093.95 (about $149,000) on October 23, 2018, to another contractor, Deux Project Limited. Two years later, ₦130,892,026.58 (about $166,212) was again remitted to the same contractor on April 14, 2020, for “rehabilitation”.
The government also paid ₦117,187,500 ($149,000) and ₦39,166,666.67 (about $149,000) to Deux Project Limited on June 7, 2021, and December 2, 2021, according to data available on the Open Treasury Portal.
Despite these considerable payments, only 5km of the 103km road have been completed. The contractor’s machinery lies idle within a barbed wire-fenced facility beside the road, left to decay in a jungle of weeds and reptiles.
On The Highway of Crime
A driver who spoke anonymously told HumAngle that “The level of insecurity has worsened to such an extent that the police use one of the checkpoints during the day, and at night, it is commandeered by armed robbers.”
Due to the increased insecurity, even security personnel stationed at checkpoints are unable to remain on duty past 9 p.m. Consequently, drivers are left vulnerable without any means of escape or support from the police at nearby checkpoints when confronted with threats.
Aliyu, Chairperson of Dong Motor Park in Numan, has urged the government to restart the road construction, stressing that it is crucial for saving lives and preventing further accidents and attacks from criminals.
“We often get complaints from the drivers about this road,” he said. “When it rains, the road becomes impassable, and heavy-duty vehicles often get stuck and block the road. Kidnappers have terrorised the region, and there is inadequate security. We urge the government to reassign the contractors to complete the work they started and abandoned.”
Zubairu Yusuf, a driver who plied the Numan-Jalingo road for over a decade, lamented the exorbitant travel costs due to the state of the road. “A journey that should take 30 minutes now lasts three hours,” he said.
Zubairu, who was once a victim of an armed robbery on the road, noted that “They [referring to the armed robbers] set up their roadblocks around the area with potholes, making escape impossible. And on the day we were robbed, they stripped us of all our money and valuables.”
In May, the Adamawa State Police Command arrested five individuals linked to an armed robbery and kidnapping incident on the route. “The suspects were on [sic] 9/05/2024, at about 11:30 p.m., armed themselves with offensive weapons, blocked Numan-Jalingo Road, robbed commuters of their belongings, and kidnapped three from the passengers into the thick forest.”
Aside from the increased insecurity on the route, drivers are forced to squander their meagre earnings on costly vehicle repairs and healthcare expenses incurred from the arduous journeys.
“For a return trip, we get around ₦36,000 ($45.7), spend ₦20,000 ($25.4) on fuel and additional cost for repairs,” Zubairu said. “I can say that we share the profit with mechanics and chemists. The least you would spend have to do an ₦8000 (about $10) repairs and buy medications and pain relievers too.”
“From an economic standpoint, motorists, passengers, and businesspeople who transport goods are struggling due to the poor condition of the roads,” said Buhari Abubakar, an activist based in Jalingo, during an interview with HumAngle. “We are facing significant challenges in contacting the government, even as lives are being lost.”
On July 15, 2024, HumAngle submitted Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, the overseeing government ministry, as well as the contractors involved in the project: Angel Wings Engineering and Constructing Company, Deux Project Limited, and Cleomanix Global Services LTD., seeking information about the abandoned project. To date, none of the recipients have responded to the requests.
In May 2022, Mu’azu Sambo, former Minister of State for Works and Housing, announced a ₦3 billion Sukuk fund allocation to rehabilitate the Numan-Jalingo road. He attributed delays on the project to “insufficient budgetary provisions” and the “COVID-19 pandemic”.
A report by TheCable disclosed that the contract for the ₦11 billion project was awarded to Deux Project Limited in 2017, but the company has only received ₦1.5 million. According to Frank Koshihuk, a project manager at the company, quoted in the report, “inflation, funding, insecurity” are the major hindering factors to the project.
This story was done under the 2023 HumAngle Accountability Fellowship programme with support from the MacArthur Foundation.
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