Lokoja — The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) on Sunday announced the closure of the Lokoja-Abuja highway to ensure the safety of road users.

Mr Mohammed Garuba, the Kogi State Sector Commander of the FRSC, said that the decision to close the highway was to ensure the safety of lives.

The highway had since last week been flooded because of the rise in water level from River Niger.

He said that the commission arrived at the decision following the continued rise in the water level at the Banda Village, two kilometres to Lokoja, the Kogi capital, adding that the movement of vehicles on the road had become "completely impossible".

According to him, FRSC officials and some youths who had been guiding vehicles through the water for the past three days had been overstressed and could no longer cope with the situation.

He said that the road would remain closed until the commission could guarantee safe vehicular movement.

Meanwhile, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), who had been carrying out rescue operations in Idah and Ibaji local governmentstold NAN that the situation in the area was deteriorating.

One of the officials , Mr Ishaya choloko, who spoke to NAN on telephone from Idah said: "although some trapped victims had been rescued, so many people are still taking refuge on top of trees".

He said that the three boats being deployed for rescue operations by National Inland Water Authority (NIWA) were inadequate, adding that the agency had been contacted to release more boats and equipment to hasten the evacuation of victims.

BeraBera: They released a statement that people traveling from Abuja should go thorough Makurdi, Lafia

BeraBera: They released a statement that people traveling from Abuja should go thorough Makurdi, Lafia

Ochek: Boy! I had to make the Isrealite journey yesterday. The route from Okene through Benue is pathetic. May God help us.

binger: that is gonna be a hek of a long,tedious journey 4 commuters and travellers.lyk som1 said,this didn't happn overnight and shud hav been preventd...what a govt!

idlaw2k3: What is happening on the Lokoja Abuja road is just terrible. Since thursday the road was overtaken by the river. And the river Niger empties into the atlantic after passing through some states in the south like Anambra Rivers and Bayelsa these waters in kogi today are heading there. The respective governments should warn and evacuate those who are living near the water course to avert certain disaster in the coming weeks

strangest: I thought there was a satelite sat 1 that Nigeria launched sometime ago during OBJ's regime that was suppose to be monitoring the earth? What are those guys at Obasanjo Space centre doing? Didn't they foresee the situation? Shouldn't someone be sacked?

double08: Left for abuja from Benin city yesterday and it took us approximately 14hrs(10.00am sunday to 2.30am monday) to get to abuja via markudi/lafia route and the road from Markudi to Keffi through Akatanga is a death trap because the numerous sharp bends will and surely claim lives when it gets busy.

Thank God for a safe trip. Will have to book a flight when am done with what I came to do here.