River State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, on Tuesday, inspected the ongoing construction work at the Creek Road Market, Port Harcourt, declaring that the project will be completed by January 2027.

The new market, which is divided into three sections is designed to provide a decent and more conducive environment for traders who had for many years extended their buying and selling activities to the road due to congestion in the old market.

The governor was conducted round the project site by Architect Opiribo West, the site engineer for E.S.T Masters Construction, the firm handling the project, alongside Hon. Tonye Belgam, the State Commissioner for Special Projects.

Addressing newsmen at the end of the inspection tour, Governor Fubara explained that the reconstruction of the market was borne out of the need to provide adequate space for the traders and clear the surrounding roads of the spillover from the market.

He noted that the ongoing rehabilitation of the network of roads in the old Port Harcourt Township had been significantly hampered by the lack of a modern market, stressing that the new market will be a promise kept and part of the high-quality infrastructure and urban renewal programme of his administration.

“You are aware that we did promise our people that all the roads in town will be fixed. But we had a very serious issue because of the Creek Road section of the township roads . Because of not having adequate space to accommodate the traders in the market, they extended their activities into the road and that became a serious issue for our construction work.

“So we decided that for us to deliver a better project that would impress our people, we must, as a matter of fact, embark on building a better and more comfortable market for our people,” he said.

In a statement signed by Onwuka Nzechi, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sir Fubara explained that while construction work has begun in Section A of the market, Section B is being prepared for immediate commencement of construction while Section C will require a more rigorous engineering approach because of it’s location on a borrow pit.

“As you are aware, we’ve been here once to check the activities of the contractor. Today, I’m here to see for myself the extent of work that is ongoing. And I feel very happy that they are doing a very good job.

“They just informed me that the market is divided into three sections. The section A and the section B and the section C. The A is the one we just saw here that they’ve already started from the ground. This B section is the other side which they will start soon, while the C section is the one that they discovered that it was a borrow pit.

“And you know, you can’t build on top of a borrow pit. So we had to do evacuation and filling. So I believe that once those things are done, the other part of the section of the market will also commence. They even assured me that the timeline I gave to them for January that they are going to deliver the project fully for our people to use,” he said.

Governor Fubara emphasised that the investment in a modern market is an integral part of his administration’s agenda on good governance through the delivery of legacy projects.

By Bonaventure Melah

Although the federal government is currently working on the Onitsha-Enugu expressway, one of the major interconnectivity roads in South East, concerns have continued to mount over the presence of over 32 checkpoints along the expressway which, observers say, are constitution serious barrier to smooth movement of persons and goods, thereby defeating the objective of reconstructing the road, in the first place.

Below is the list of the 32 security checkpoints along Onitsha- Enugu expressway:

1. Army Gate Onitsha
2. Nkwelle Junction
3. Awkuzu Junction Army
4. Awkuzu Junction FRSC
5. Dunukofia LG hqts Police
6. Enugwu-Ukwu Junction Police
7. Amawbia Junction Police
8. Unizik Junction Army
9. Mopol base Awka Junction Police
10. Prince and Princess hostel front army
11. Amansea boundary Police
12. Ugwuoba boundary Police
13. Ugwuoba bridge police team
14. Ugwuoba Junction Army
15. Ugwuoba Junction NDLEA
16. Ugwuoba Junction FRSC
17. Ugwuoba Central Army
18. Oji River Junction Army 1
19. Oji River Junction Army 2
20. Ezeagu express Army
21. Near Nkwo ezeagu Police
22. Near tiles factory Police
23. Umumba Ndiuno express Police 1
24. Umumba Ndiuno express Police 2
25. 9th Mile Checkpoint
26. Nude express (approach to ninth mile) Police
27. Ngwo express Army
28. Ngwo express anti terror squad
29. Onyeama Hill (near refuse dump) Army
30 Onyeama Hill (near coal mine) Army
31. Abakpa Interchange Police
32. Abakpa Junction FRSC.

Note: A traveller moving just 105 KM from Onitsha to Enugu will endure will have to endure this nightmare. A journey that should ordinarily take about 40 mins therefore ends within 3 hours.

Approximately, it stands at a ratio of one checkpoint after every 3.7 km. This is in addition to heavy extortion motorists face from the security operatives stationed at the checkpoints.

Source: Dr Amaka Oforbuike.

42 people have been killed in fighting between ethnic groups in the east of Chad, a government official said Sunday.

Government delegate said the clashes Saturday in the sub-prefecture of Guereda in Wadi Fira province began as a dispute over a water well.

Several ministers, senior local officials, and the military’s chief of staff were dispatched to the scene on Sunday.

“The situation is under control and remains so,” Limane Mahamat, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, said on the state broadcaster.

For several years, eastern Chad has been plagued by conflicts between farmers and nomadic Arab herders. Tensions have been exacerbated by refugees fleeing fighting in neighbouring Sudan.

Conflicts over farm and grazing land have caused more than a thousand deaths and 2,000 injuries between 2021 and 2024, according to estimates by the NGO International Crisis Group.