Protesters barricade East-West road for three days
They instead erected canopies across the road that leads to Onne Port and Port Harcourt Refinery, preventing vehicular movement.
The protesters insisted that they would not leave the busy road until the Minister of the Niger Delta, Sen. Godswill Akpabio and the Federal Government showed commitment to fix the death trap.
The youth from communities in Elele and Ogoni, who began their civil action on Monday, said it was unacceptable that the section of the road that leads to the Onne Port, which generates billions of Naira to the Federal Government, will be left in such a sorry state.
They expressed sadness that Sen. Akpabio had not shown seriousness about fixing the road.
The leader of the protesters, Prince Okeke, said the road had claimed lives following its abandonment by the government for decades. He called for urgent intervention.
He said: “The issue we have here today is a total neglect because Eleme feeds the nation. Eleme is contributing 98 per cent to federal growth, but we have been neglected. This road has caused a lot of damage, insecurity and hardship.
“Yet, a lot of promises have been made from a distance and we have lost out of patience. We can no longer tolerate that because Nigeria belongs to all of us.”
But yesterday, the protesters remained adamant, saying nothing short of commitment from the government would make them vacate the area.
One of them, Mr. Celestine Akpobari, said the protest had been peaceful for three days.
He said: “I have made it a point of duty to always be here to prevent the young people from taking the law into their hands by harassing innocent people and vandalising vehicles.
“The demands still remain that contractors should be mobilised to site. The money from this place is used in servicing states of the federation, including Abuja. We will no longer be subjected to what we are going through.”
Akpobari said the minister sent a letter to them demanding date and time for dialogue.
He said: “The Permanent Secretary to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs has been here to meet with Ogoni leaders and they have discussed.
“I think what we are waiting for is to meet with the minister. As soon as he comes, we will know what to do, hence the protest continues.”
Another protester, Mr. Darlington Doobie, said he was in support of the action, lamenting that his uncle died on the road when a tanker fell on his vehicle.
Doobie said: “I am in total support of the continuity of the protest. Two years ago, my uncle died on this road. A container fell on the vehicle he was in and everyone in the vehicle lost their lives.
“On Saturday, when I was returning from Bori, a tanker, while trying to meander through the bad road, fell. The vehicles in front and behind the tanker were lucky because of the space between them. This caused gridlock.
“If the Federal Government puts the road in a good shape, casualties will be reduced to the barest minimum. Sadly, the bridge collapses every month. It is only patched, making the bridge a death trap.
“The government should come to our aid, as this is one of the roads in Rivers State that produce billions of Naira. In Eleme alone there are over 200 companies and their vehicles run to and fro on the road daily.”
Akpabio has appealed to the protesters to be patient with the Federal Government.
He said steps are being taken to address the deplorable state of the road, promising that it will be completed next year.
The minister disclosed this during a meeting with the Ogoni Ethnic Nationality Stakeholders in Abuja.
He called for peace and calmness by the youth.
The minister, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Babayo Ardo, said with the review of the initial contract scope and contract unit rates, specific measures have been put in place to address the contingent site conditions militating against the progress of work.
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