Passengers stranded at River Niger, as Delta lockdown over COVID-19

By Ebi Perekeme

Hundreds of travellers in and out of Delta State were stranded at the Asaba end of the River Niger Bridge head following the enforcement of the closure of land borders by the government.

Security agents were at the border points to ensure no one entered the state, a situation that resulted to long queues of trucks, buses and cars on the Onitsha-Benin highway.

Some of the travellers, who claimed ignorance of the directive that was issued last Thursday, expressed sadness that they could not continue their journeys onward or backward.

One of them, who identified himself as James Orji, a commercial transporter, said he was going to Lagos from Owerri, Imo State.

Fuming with anger, a woman, who simply gave her name as Theresa, said she was molested by a soldier while trying to cross from Asaba to Onitsha.

She explained that she crossed to Asaba from Onitsha at about 6am on Sunday to buy garri using the footpath on the bridge.