A yet-to-be-identified female truck driver transporting cement from Calabar has abandoned her truck on the Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Federal Highway, plunging motorists and commuters plying the deteriorating highway to hours of gridlock on Wednesday.
According to Vanguard, the incident happened just 10 meters after the second gate of the Umuahia Building Material Market, Isieke, towards Umudike.
For several hours, traffic was completely halted, trapping many vehicles trying to enter or leave Umuahia.
Drivers familiar with the area attempted to navigate local routes to reach their destinations, particularly those headed to Akwa Ibom and Cross River States.
The truck driver herself was not present at the scene, but her husband had been contacted.
When newsmen arrived at 11 a.m., a team of soldiers and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) officers was already there, trying to manage the situation.
They pleaded with the husband to reach his wife and have her remove the truck, but he struggled to get through to her by phone.
Sympathizers of the truck driver expressed their frustration and anger at the touts who had allegedly detained her since Tuesday night, leading her to block the road in protest on Wednesday morning.
A traffic officer on the scene reported that one of the touts had been arrested and taken to the police station.
