Traders, shop owners at Enugu-Ugwuogo-Opi-Nsukka road have continued to express their worry over the demolition of their shops for the dualization of the 43km express way by the Enugu state government.
Those whose shops were demolished at Opi have lamented the sudden destruction of their livelihood by the state government.
According to them, they were not against the dualization of the road, but were of the opinion that the state government would have started the construction from a virgin area instead of destroying their shops at Opi junction.
The shop owners also said they were not happy with the situation because the construction work may take another six months before it reached their area, going by the pace of the work.
Chijioke Ezugwu, one of the affected shop owners told WITHIN NIGERIA that he came back from Benue state to establish a provision business in Opi junction after crisis in the area nearly consumed his family.
He said that right now, he is confused on what else to do.
“I am so much devasted and confused. I came back from Benue state after series of conflicts in the area nearly consumed my family. Now that my shop has been demolished, I don’t know what else to do. I appeal to the state government to find a solution to us whose livelihood depends on our shop here ”
Another provision shop owner who spoke under anonymity told our reporter that he lost over three million to the demolition.
According to the shop owner, ” I rented this shop last year. I used over one million naira to construct it to this level. I also invested over two million naira worth of good in the business. But look at what is happening here now. This morning, we just saw bulldozer coming to destroy what we have laboured so hard to put together.”
Joseph Eze is a hard drink seller in the area whose shops was also affected. He said he was pained that state government left where there is no human activities to demolish shops at Opi junction where many families depend on for livelihood.
” Why not start from Maduka University area? Why not from other bushy area? It is very painful. For me, I have packed all my goods to my house. Now, I don’t sell anything again. How do I feed my family? How do I survive with this situation? We appeal to the government to know how to handle this situation so that we go back to our business.”
WITHIN NIGERIA gathered that Gov Peter Mbah had declared last year that he would dualise the over 43 kilometre road to ease traffic and also eliminate criminal activities on the route.
Gov. Mbah assures speedy completion, inspects the project
On Friday February 20, 2026, Governor Peter Mbah undertook an unannounced on-the-spot check by his administration, describing it as a critical socioeconomic infrastructure for the people of the state.
The governor also inspected identified security flashpoints on the road, which he said would be immediately fixed through infrastructural interventions and the setting up of a forward base.
Expressing his satisfaction with the level of work, Governor Mbah vowed that the administration would not rest on its oars until the project was completed.
In his words, “We are very happy with the pace of work here. We have also paid attention to the quality because this is going to be a major highway for us by the time we are done. We are also interested in the timeline because we have given the contractor a strict timeline.
“We have reviewed the work programme, and the agreement is that this project will be delivered in October 2026. We don’t want to sit back in our office and at the end of the day be disappointed. What the team is doing is to be sure the project is being executed in accordance with the timeline and quality. We are satisfied with the speed and I am confident that the contractor will deliver,” he stated.
On the security flashpoints on the road, Mr Mbah said: “Again, this road has also been one of the flashpoints of security challenges in our state. So, what we have also done here today is to go to the exact locations where we have security breaches on this road every now and again, and we have basically found a solution that will ensure those breaches do not continue on this road.
“We have also identified what to do, and we have agreed with the contractor on some quick fixes to do there. Most importantly, we are also going to have our forward operating base there to deal with that.
“The primary responsibility of every government is to ensure the security and safety of citizens. That is why I thought it wise to get to those flashpoints and ensure we put in place measures that will eliminate any such threats,” he concluded.
