The Federal Road Safety
Commission (FRSC) has announced the closure of the Lokoja-Abuja highway to
ensure the safety of road users.
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 has been flooded since last week because of a rise
in water levels of the River Niger.
Garuba 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.