Residents of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, living along Mararaba, Nyanya areas, are currently stranded in a gridlock caused by a roadblock mounted by the soldiers and the police.
The soldiers mounted a roadblock at Kugbo near Karu bridge leading to a traffic snarl from the Nyanya, Jikwoyi, Mararaba, Masaka and Karu areas.
The expressway was said to have been blocked as early as 5am when many people were heading for work.
Some residents had earlier blamed the chaotic situation on the road on members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, popularly known as Shi’ites, who commenced its annual ‘Arbaeen Symbolic Trek’ on Monday.
But findings by SaharaReporters on Tuesday revealed that the sect had moved the procession to the Kubwa Expressway and was not on the road as being speculated.
The soldiers were said to have hurriedly beefed security along the Mararaba Road as a result of Independence Day Celebration slated for Friday, October 1, at Eagle Square.
The Secretary of IMN Academic Forum, Abdullahi Musa, who spoke to SaharaReporters, debunked the rumour that they were responsible for the gridlock on the road.
He accused security operatives of subjecting innocent citizens to untold hardship in the name of searching for their members.
Musa said, “We are law-abiding people; the narrative that we blocked Mararaba road was not true and Nigerians should not believe the security agents. They are the ones responsible for the problem on that road.
“None of our members was on that road today Tuesday, as I am talking to you; now our Arbaeen trek is taking place at Galadimawa near Gwarinpa along Kubwa road and we did not block the road and the policemen and civil defence officers started shooting when we were about to round off.
“We are not surprised about their lies and this is not the first time they will cause a problem and lie over it.”
As of time of this report, many residents said they had spent over five hours in the traffic.
