By Suleiman Abubakar Rimi Uku Lafia Investigations Desk
Deep within Farin Ruwa in Wamba Local Government Area, a crisis has festered quietly for half a century, unseen by government delegations, unacknowledged in policy documents, and untouched by development interventions.
Our weeks-long investigation reveals a disturbing pattern of sustained neglect affecting not just one or two, but over 60,000 residents scattered across Jini Boll-, Ambuga, and adjoining rural communities.
At the center of this unfolding humanitarian emergency lies a crude structure the locals call the “Monkey Bridge.”
A frail web of logs, sticks, and ropes, the bridge hangs above a ravine that roars into a deadly torrent during rainfall. For outsiders, it is a shocking sight. For locals, it is an everyday gamble with death.
A BRIDGE BUILT BY NEGLECT
The bridge was built by villagers nearly five decades ago, using only basic tools and forest materials. No engineer supervised it. No government official inspected it. No upgrade has ever been carried out.
Our team documented:
- Missing planks
- Rotted poles
- Weak ropes tied to eroding tree stumps
- Sections repaired repeatedly with leftover firewood
- Parts dangling dangerously from years of water erosion
Yet this fragile structure remains the sole gateway connecting several communities to markets, hospitals, schools, and farmlands.
“WE HAVE BEEN LEFT TO DIE QUIETLY” — RESIDENTS SPEAK
During interviews conducted at Kaala Ambuga, residents expressed a level of resignation that only decades of failed expectations can produce.
“We have been using this bridge for about fifty years without any government or NGO coming to our aid. We feel completely abandoned,”
Community elder, Jini Boll
Many residents described traumatic experiences, pregnant women unable to reach hospitals, children falling into the ravine, farmers losing produce during crossings, and emergency cases ending fatally because the bridge is impossible to cross when it rains.
A mother of four recounted:
“During the rainy season, we become trapped. My children miss school for weeks. We are begging the authorities to see us.”
AN ECONOMY OF DESPERATION
With no access roads, no vehicles can reach these communities. Everything, from food to building materials, must cross the Monkey Bridge.
Those who cannot cross with heavy loads are forced to pay local carriers, birthing an exploitative micro-economy:
- ₦300–₦700 to carry farm produce
- ₦500–₦1,200 to ferry household goods
- ₦1,500 or more for livestock
For a community where the average daily income is below ₦1,000, this system drains their already meagre livelihoods.
THE WORSE TRUTH: IT’S NOT JUST TWO COMMUNITIES
One of the biggest revelations of our investigation is that Jini Boll- and Ambuga are only fragments of a much larger infrastructural disaster.
Satellite mapping and field reports show:
- Over 60,000 residents across the region depend on similar makeshift bridges
- No single standard bridge exists across the entire stretch
- Communities like Shafan, Farin Ruwa Interior, Kaala, and several hamlets face identical dangers
This is no longer a local complaint. It is a full-blown regional emergency.
POLITICAL PROMISES, ZERO ACTION
Rimawa Global News reviewed public statements and campaign promises from the past fifteen years. While multiple administrations pledged to “prioritize rural access” and “open up Farin Ruwa for development,” no budget allocation, project plan, or official inspection has ever been recorded for these communities.
In other words, the people have waited 50 years for a solution that has never moved beyond political rhetoric.
EXPERTS WARN OF IMMINENT DISASTER
Civil engineers consulted by our desk confirmed that the Monkey Bridge is not only unsafe but on the brink of collapse.
According to one expert:
“One strong rainfall or a heavy load could bring the entire structure down. The community is living on borrowed time.”
Health workers also warn that the absence of a proper bridge could worsen maternal mortality, cholera outbreaks, and food insecurity.
A REGION ON EDGE AS RAINY SEASON APPROACHES
As clouds gather for another rainy season, fear deepens across the affected communities.
The question resonates everywhere:
Will the government finally act—or will another generation of children grow up knowing only the terror of the Monkey Bridge?
For now, the bridge stands, creaking, swinging, and threatening to collapse at any moment—a tragic emblem of rural abandonment in Nasarawa State.
