The Nigerian Army has commenced the reconstruction of a collapsed bridge at Sabongida, Kuyello, close to Dogon-Dawa in Birni Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Wednesday, 2 October, 2019.
The bridge, which links Kaduna, Katsina and Zamfara states along the Birni Gwari axis, was washed away by erosion two years ago. The development which threw the agrarian communities into serious confusion as they could no longer move their farm produce across village and towns within their area.
The General Officer Commanding , 1 Division, Major General Faruk Yahaya during the ground breaking ceremony at the project site said, the rebuilding effort was to demonstrate Army’s commitment to Civil-Military Cooperation adding that, the project would not be the end of such intervention in the area.
The GOC who was represented by the Garrison Commander, Brigadier General Jimmy Akpor, said, that the idea to rebuild the Bridge came from the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai during one of his operational visits to the Army Super Camp in Kuyello.
“In his word, the COAS on July 15, was on his way to the Nigerian Army Super Camp in Kuyello when he ran into this collapsed bridge. He immediately directed the GOC to reconstruct the bridge and that is what we have come to start today.
“NA is fixing this bridge for the community as part of Civil-Military Cooperation. We have constructed roads, fixed bridges across the country and this is just another one,” he said.
The Honourable Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr Samuel Aruwan who represented Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai thanked the Army authority for the gesture saying, Army has proved to be responsive.
“We’re grateful to the authority of the Nigerian Army for this gesture. They have challenged us as a government. We shall continue to support them in addressing security issues because if not their effort we would not have been here today,” he said.
The District Head of Kuyello-, Alhaji Al-Hassan Al-Hassan described the intervention as huge relief to his people.
The 18 meter long and 15 meter wide 80 tons capacity bridge is expected to be completed in the next ten weeks according to the Project Director, Brigadier General Tonye Numbere
