Rampaging Youths Take Over Eleme-Onne Section Of East-West Road
…Sack Motorists
Hundreds of protesters on Monday, July 26, 2021, blocked the busy Eleme-Onne section of the East-West Road, resulting in a traffic grid-lock that lasted for the whole day.
The protesters who were protesting the negligence of the road by the Federal Government, said that their action was to draw the attention of the government to the predicament of people doing business along the area including motorists leaving and coming into Rivers State.
The Eleme youths marched to the road as early as 3:00am, condemning the nonchallant attitude of the federal government to the deplorable state of the road for so many years despite the outcries of the people.
Some of the placards displayed by the protesters read; ‘if you love Eleme, fix our roads’, ‘Enough of deceit from the Federal Government’, ‘Eleme deserves good roads’, ‘Indorama, give Eleme light or leave Eleme land’, among others.
Prince Comrade N. Okereke, the Eleme youth coordinator condemned the failure of the federal government to fix the failed section of the road despite several complaints by the people of Eleme, describing the road as a death trap.
He warned that they would no longer fold their hands to watch the inhuman and degrading treatment by the government, despite the economic benefits accruing to the government from their local government area.
According to him, the internal roads, which travelers had resorted to, are also bad, thereby making life hard for them and lamented the regular visits to mechanics by car owners occasioned by the state of the road. They vowed not to vacate the road until the issue is addressed.
He said sometime ago, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio came and mentioned to them that the road would be fixed but since then nothing has been done.
Also speaking, Chinwe Onugwonwi Ate described the Akpajo-Eleme down to Trailer Park as the worst section of the whole of the East-West road. He lambasted the Federal Executive Council for approving money for road construction for other parts of the country, while neglecting Eleme, the goose that lays the golden egg, the heart beat of the nation’s economy.
He called on the federal government and the NDDC to immediately mobilize contractors to fix the road because it has gotten to an unbearable stage. “We want to see the Eleme-Akpajo axis of the East-West Road wear the same looks as other federal roads around the country”, he declared.
The Chairman of Eleme Local Government Area, Hon. Obarilomate Ollor blamed the Federal Government for handling the issue with kids gloves, noting that the road is almost unpassable while the bridge is at the point of collapse, which he said poses a serious threat to the road users and even the investors in the area.
He wondered why the Federal Government should treat such a local government like Eleme, the mainstay of the nation’s economy with such high level of deprivation, adding that it is high time the government looked into the problems of the Eleme people and not just the road.
Hon. Ollor said as peace loving people, they have waited patiently with pains in their hearts for several years, so it is cardinal that the road get fixed because it portrays a great danger to all and sundry.
The Council boss further urged the youths to continue to conduct themselves properly and not to allow the situation to be hijacked by unscrupulous elements and hoodlums because they are fighting a right cause.