Thieves have vandalised the median walkway in the Onitsha, Anambra State section of the newly inaugurated Second Niger Bridge, stealing the metal plate in the middle of the walkway and expansion joint in the process.

According to the resident engineer in charge of the project, Oluwaseyi Martins, the vandalisation of the median walkway occurred late, last week Wednesday, July 5.

Though the incident does not pose any threat to the bridge or its use, Martins expressed concern that such an important legacy project serving the people could be vandalised barely two months after it was open to the public.

It just started happening and if we don’t intensify security on the bridge, more damage could be done to other parts of the bridge. It is a new trend that we are experiencing across the country, not only on the Second Niger Bridge.

“We have written to all the security agencies, including the military, that this is an important national asset that should be protected and they should beam their surveillance and security operations on the bridge.

“I know that by now, they are on top of the situation to forestall further vandalisation of the important national asset.”

The multi-billion naira bridge, which runs over the River Niger, linking Asaba, the Delta State capital in the South-South with the commercial city of Onitsha in the Southeast, was inaugurated on May 23, this year, by former President Muhammadu Buhari, via Zoom. It was subsequently opened for public use.

The Second Niger Bridge, which is a bypass of the traffic and commercial activities in Onitsha, was earlier partially opened for one month on December 15, last year to ease traffic during the Yuletide.

The Second Niger Bridge was first proposed during the 1978/79 political campaign by then-candidate Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria.

Patterned after the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, the 1.6 kilometers long bridge linking Anambra and Delta states is to decongest traffic on the existing Niger Bridge, boost economic activities, and connect the South-East with the rest of the country.