Madagali and Michika, two local government areas in the northern tip of Adamawa State, have been cut off from the rest of the state by a downpour which washed off a makeshift passage around a bridge which had earlier been bombed by Boko Haram insurgents.
Our correspondent gathered on Monday that the flood which resulted from Friday downpour through Saturday had completely swallowed up the broken Dilchim bridge by Saturday morning.
“What used to be the bridge in Dilchim had become a sea of floodwater by Saturday; you could not see anywhere to pass and vehicles going from Michika end or coming into Michika from Yola or anywhere south of the state had to stop at either end of the bridge,” a Michika resident told DAILY POST.
Another source, Sunday Stephen, a resident of Bazza, a community in Michika LGA close to the Dilchim bridge, however also told our correspondent Monday afternoon that although vehicles still could not pass to Michika and Madagali from the rest of Adamawa, desperate individuals were being assisted across the receding floodwater through the use of ladder placed over the part of the Dilchim bridge that had become visible.
The bridge in Dilchim was bombed in 2014 by Boko Haram insurgents who left only a portion of it, the side of which is filled with sand for vehicles to pass mostly during dry season.
The rainy season, such as now, has always been a challenge since then, with almost every rainfall washing off the sand-filled part and rendering the place impassable.
Thus, the people of Madagali LGA, some 266 kilometres from Yola; and those of Michika, 223 kilometres from Yola, usually have had a hard time commuting between their home base and the state capital and, of course, other parts of the state.
The state governor, Rt Hon Ahmadu Fintiri, who incidentally comes from Madagali LGA, had in a recent visit to the bridge site, appealed to the Federal Government to hasten its reconstruction.
The Federal Government had awarded a contract for its reconstruction three years ago.
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