A man identified as AbdulBaki has reportedly been swept away by floodwaters while trying to cross a flooded river between Okolowo and Mandala communities in Kwara State.
The incident occurred on Monday along the Okolowo–Alapa Road, where residents have continued to face serious flooding following the collapse of the Moro Bridge.
AbdulBaki was said to have been attempting to cross the flooded section when the strong current carried him away. His family members and other residents have since been searching the area for him, but his pl body had not been recovered as of Tuesday.
The incident has renewed concerns about the safety of people using the route, particularly during the rainy season.
Residents said the Kwara State Government had installed a makeshift container bridge as a temporary measure after the Moro Bridge collapsed. However, they claimed the structure has not solved the flooding problem, as heavy rainfall continues to leave sections of the road submerged.
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One resident said the community experiences flooding whenever there is significant rainfall, affecting workers, traders, motorists and other road users.
The road is also heavily used by articulated vehicles, tankers and trucks transporting agricultural goods between communities in Kwara and routes toward Oyo State and the Nigeria–Benin Republic border.
A civil engineer, Babatunde Abdulganiy, previously warned that temporary bridges could become dangerous if they lacked sufficient waterway and hydraulic clearance to allow floodwaters to pass freely.
He noted that rising water could potentially overtop or weaken such structures if adequate provisions were not made.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has reportedly directed the contractor handling the abandoned permanent replacement for the Moro Bridge to return to the site and resume construction.
The Moro and Ohan bridges project on the Ilorin-Igbeti Road was awarded to Bilijoe + Berger Construction Limited around 2017.
The contract, initially valued at about N865 million, was later revised to more than N1.2 billion. Reports also indicated that over N320 million had been paid to the contractor between 2018 and 2023, despite the project remaining incomplete.
The prolonged abandonment has left residents dependent on temporary arrangements while exposing communities along the route to recurring flooding and transportation challenges.
The Kwara State Government has maintained that the Moro Bridge is a Federal Government project and that its interventions were temporary measures to maintain movement until the permanent bridge is completed.
In May 2026, the state government said its latest intervention on the federal bridge cost N27 million, dismissing claims that it had spent N1.2 billion on temporary repairs.
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