IDIMU RESIDENTS, BUSINESSES GROAN AS OGUNROMBI ROAD PROJECT STALLS

Residents and business owners along Ogunrombi Street in the Idimu area of Lagos State have expressed frustration over delays in a road rehabilitation project, accusing construction workers of obstructing traffic and allegedly extorting motorists seeking access to the community.

During a visit to the project site by PUNCH Metro on Tuesday following complaints, residents said the Lagos State Government had awarded the contract to resurface Ogunrombi Street to Orisunmbare with a 12-month completion timeline. However, they claimed the project remained largely unfinished despite the scheduled deadline.

The residents said the delay had caused significant hardship for motorists and businesses, while also raising concerns about the quality of work already completed.

A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said construction began in July 2025, but the contractors had only scraped the road surface and constructed drainage channels.

“We are bothered by what is going on on our street, Ogunrombi Street, Idimu. The Lagos State Government awarded the contract for resurfacing the road from Ogunrombi to Orisunmbare for 12 months. They started in July 2025.

“As I speak, they have only scraped the surface and done the drainage. That is all they were able to achieve within the scheduled time for delivery of the job,” the resident said.

The resident further alleged that construction workers deliberately blocked sections of the road and demanded money from motorists before allowing them to pass.

“This week, they did literally nothing other than block the roads with their equipment to prevent vehicular movement, treating the people in the community with contempt. They converted the roadblock into a tollgate, extorting motorists to secure passage,” the resident alleged.

Another resident, Tunde Filani, said the workers had previously used a caterpillar to block the entire road for a week before moving the equipment to one side and parking a truck on the other, leaving motorists with limited access.

He alleged that the workers subsequently demanded money from motorists to allow them through.

According to Filani, the owner of an event centre along the road had to contact the contractor after the obstruction disrupted access to the facility. The contractor reportedly directed the workers to reopen the road.

“The suffering is too much for us, and there is no hope that the project will be completed in another year, given the speed of work,” he added.

A commercial motorcycle rider also complained about the delay, alleging that workers blocked the end of the road linking OPC Junction and demanded payments from operators before allowing them to pass.

“They used their caterpillar to block the road last month and prevented us from using it. It was blocked at the other end of the road linking OPC Junction. So, we had to pay N10,000 weekly for us to pass,” the rider alleged.

He said unit officials collected the money on behalf of their members to secure passage through the blocked section.

Similarly, Francis Udo, a manager of a company located along the road, said the slow pace of construction had negatively affected the business, forcing it to operate at a loss.

Udo explained that the removal of the company’s drive-in access at the beginning of the project had prevented its trucks from entering the premises. He added that vehicles parked outside the facility had been vandalised twice.

“We have been subjected to hardship as a result of this project. Our business has been running at a loss. When they started, they removed the drive-ins, and since then, we have not been able to move our truck into the compound.

“While we park outside, our truck has been vandalised twice. We had hoped that the work would be completed by July, but they are still foot-dragging,” he said.

Udo also accused the workers of blocking the road and demanding payments from motorists rather than speeding up construction.

“Instead of them to hasten up, they resorted to block the road and extort motorists. Sometimes, we paid N3,000 before they would allow us passage. It was later that their leader ordered them to open the road,” he alleged.

Beyond the delays and alleged extortion, residents expressed concerns about the quality of the construction, particularly the drive-ins built along the road.

Another resident, who also spoke anonymously, claimed that some of the drive-ins had begun to collapse barely a month after construction.

“The drive-ins they made have started collapsing under the weight of small cars, and this is just a period of one month,” the resident said.

A further allegation was that some landlords around the Paiko end of the road had contributed money to purchase iron materials after raising concerns about the quality of materials being used by the contractors.

During its visit, PUNCH Metro observed that construction work was ongoing at the Foursquare Avenue end of the road.

Project signboards erected at both ends identified the Lagos State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure as the agency responsible for the project and indicated a 12-month completion period.

The residents appealed to the state government and relevant authorities to investigate the allegations of extortion and substandard construction, ensure compliance with quality standards and expedite the project’s completion.

Efforts to obtain a response from the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure were unsuccessful as its spokesperson, Adeshina Odunuga, did not answer calls made to his telephone line on Tuesday. A text message sent to him had also not received a response as of the time of filing this report.