In 2015, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) awarded the construction of the community road to Opal Networks Limited at the sum of N199.5 million with a completion period of twelve months.
Akrabah, Akwurinyin, and Abukpem are three of the thirteen political wards which make up Gakem in Bekwarra Local Government Area of Cross River State. It is about five kilometers from the Local Government capital – Abuochiche, 30 Kilometers from Vandeikya Local Government of Benue State, and shares boundaries with neighboring Yala in Cross River.
In 2015, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) awarded the construction of the community road to Opal Networks Limited at the sum of N199.5 million with a completion period of twelve months.
Seven years after the contract was awarded, NDDC whose main objective is to develop the Niger Delta region appears to have tricked the contractor and the Gakem Communities. This is even as the Commission in the past few years has been on the front pages of newspapers and its modus operandi, the subject of controversies.
The contractor started initial construction in July 2015 but twenty-five months after attaining 52 percent partial completion, the construction stopped following non-payment from the Commission. The partial work on the road has made traveling to the communities a hard slog.
Residents Endure Hardship Over Inaccessible Road