When two contractors first appeared on the Gombe–Dukku Road in 2019, Muhammadu Nappe, a local at Bozon Shilwa village, believed relief had come to his community. Like many residents of Dukku Local Government Area of Gombe State, he thought the rehabilitation would end years of hardship on the highway linking Gombe and Bauchi states.
Over seven years later, he said the road has instead turned into a dreadful way to other neighbouring communities and states. He said the same road he once celebrated has become a corridor of potholes, erosion and recurring accidents.
Muhammadu pointed at stretches of collapsed asphalt the villagers repeatedly filled with sand using local tools and travellers’ support. He admits the road has deteriorated beyond what residents can manage themselves.
He recalled several accidents he witnessed near his community. But one memory still haunts him. “There was a time a vehicle overturned because of these potholes. More than a dozen passengers were inside. Only one person survived,” he said.
He added that what happened afterwards still stayed with him. “Even after three days, you could still find parts of human bodies — tongues, noses — buried in the sand,” he said.
For communities along the Gombe–Dukku corridor, such tragedies have become part of life on a road many now describe as a death trap despite repeated promises and billions of naira released for repairs.
The 72-kilometre road is a major economic artery linking Northeastern states like Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba with Northwestern commercial centres such as Kano and Jigawa.
Road with Troubles
Field visits revealed that the route is a corridor of potholes, failed shoulders, erosion and collapsed sections that force motorists to drive off-road to avoid damage or accidents. Locals’ efforts to fill them with sand remain barely impactful.
While some sections around Dukku and Darazo appear relatively better than the Gombe–Dukku axis, commuters said the improvements remain far below expectations.
Farmers said spoilage and transport delays reduce their profits. Traders complain that transportation costs continue rising because drivers hike fares.
During the rainy season, muddy portions become nearly impassable. In the dry season, thick dust covers homes, passengers and roadside businesses.
Others expressed disappointment that prominent political figures from the area, such as the former minister of transportation, Sa’idu Ahmed Alkali, had not succeeded in rehabilitation of the road.
Beside one of the damaged portions of the road in the Wasadu community, Ibrahim Saleh, a community leader, built his makeshift. For him, the road affects nearly every aspect of daily life — healthcare, transportation, farming, trade and even access to water. “Whenever we want to fetch water, we travel more than 10 kilometres to Bojude. Communities far away also depend on that place for water, yet there is no proper road,” he lamented.
He added that they have repeatedly complained to authorities about the road over the years, but little has changed beyond promises.
We Feel Like Crying
Truck drivers also feel the pain of plying the road. Danlami Ayuba, a Taraba State-based truck driver who uses the road, corroborated that they transport cement, grains, livestock and other goods across the region, but the deteriorating condition of the road has turned routine journeys into exhausting ordeals marked by delays and rising operating costs.
Several truck operators said the condition of the route is taking a heavy toll on their businesses. Frequent damage to tyres, leaf springs and shock absorbers has significantly increased maintenance expenses, while prolonged travel times mean higher fuel consumption.
Others described how loaded trucks often get trapped around badly damaged portions during the rainy season, creating long queues and worsening delays for motorists and transporters moving goods.
For Ayuba, night journeys have become particularly risky for truck operators because poor visibility makes damaged portions and deep potholes harder to navigate, making them feel like crying.
At the Mega Park in Gombe, commercial drivers described the road as their nightmare.
A commercial driver, Abdulaziz Shehu, who plies the route regularly, said what used to be a 30 to 45-minute journey now takes them up to hours.
According to Shehu, he recently spent over N50,000 replacing damaged vehicle parts after a trip on the road. “The money we make now goes into petrol and repairs, leaving us with debts,” he decried.
Others said vehicle parts that once lasted years now barely survive months because of the road conditions.
Mamuda, chairman of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) at Gombe Mega Park, said operational costs have badly affected transporters.
“If you buy tyres, they may not last six months. Shock absorbers get destroyed constantly,” he said.
Billions Released
According to Govspend, an Open Source tracking platform, between October 10, 2018 and September 15, 2025, over N3.22 billion was disbursed to 21 companies and two individuals for interventions linked to the repairs of the road.
The WikkiTimes’ analysis of the releases shows that over N2 billion of the total amount was paid through the Ministry of Works, whereas over N1 billion was released through the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA).
An analysis of payment records revealed repeated releases through the Ministry of Works to multiple contractors for projects ranging from washout reinstatement and embankment reconstruction to repairs of failed sections across different portions of the road, with some payments running into hundreds of millions of naira.
The findings indicated that payments intensified from 2021 onward, with several contractors receiving multiple disbursements at different phases of intervention. Among the beneficiaries were Royalfront International Ltd, YGD & Sons Nigeria Ltd, Shazumami Nigeria Ltd, Emma Ventures Investment Ltd, Multigate Corporate Development Ltd, Wakema Construction Company Ltd and Abshu General Merchandise Ltd.
The five highest disbursements traced through the ministry show that some of the biggest payments were made in 2021 and 2023. The largest single release identified in the records was made on January 22, 2021, when Royalfront International Limited received about N211.1 million for the reinstatement of washouts and damaged embankments along the road.
On the same day, YGD & Sons Nigeria Limited was paid N165.5 million for repairs on failed sections of the road. Another major payment followed on March 15, 2023, when Emma Ventures Investment Ltd received N143.6 million for emergency repair works on failed sections of the road.
The records further showed that Wakema Construction Company Limited received N134.9 million on November 14, 2023, for road rehabilitation, while Emma Ventures Investment Ltd received another N128.3 million on March 21, 2023, for emergency repairs to additional failed portions of the corridor.
The five payments alone account for more than N783 million out of the over N2.22 billion that flowed through the Ministry of Works.
Payments Through FERMA
The payment records also showed that N1.02 billion was channelled through the FERMA between January 19, 2019 and December 29, 2022, for projects ranging from emergency washout repairs and embankment reinstatement to failed carriageway rehabilitation, pothole patching and drainage improvement works.
Among the early interventions were N29.2 million released on January 19, 2019, for vegetation control works and N39.7 million on March 20, 2019 for emergency reinstatement of eroded embankments and drainage improvement.
The payments tracked further show repeated spending on critical sections of the road across multiple years. On February 5, 2021, N70.9 million was released for emergency repairs of dangerous washouts around Kwami Town, while additional maintenance-related payments followed on March 19 and March 31, 2021.
Records also show several emergency interventions approved on July 14, 2021, targeting collapsed carriageways and failed sections, while more repair allocations were released on December 3, December 8 and December 22, 2021 for road signs, failed road sections and embankment recovery works.
Further spending under the agency continued in 2022, including emergency interventions approved on June 1, special maintenance repairs on June 23, failed carriageway reinstatements on August 2, and pothole patching works approved on December 29, 2022.
Residents insist the suffering on the ground reflects little evidence of work commensurate with the payments.
Government Promises Continue
Successive appeals for rehabilitation have continued over the years. The Gombe State Government says it remains committed to the road’s rehabilitation.
Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, who doubled as the chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, has noted that they had raised the matter with President Bola Tinubu.
According to him, the governors were seeking federal intervention for strategic roads across the Northeast, including the Gombe–Dukku–Darazo corridor.
But for residents, repeated meetings and appeals mean little without visible repairs on the ground.
To be continued.
This investigation was supported by the Budeshi Media Grant, an initiative of the Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC)
