Ex-Niger Delta agitators mobilise protest against East-West road neglect

Ex-agitators in the Niger Delta region are gearing up for a massive protest against the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, for allegedly abandoning the East-West road project.

One of the leaders of ex-agitators in the Niger Delta, Osaanya B. Osaanya, said in a statement he issued on Thursday, that all was set to storm the road for what he described as the mother-of-all protest.

Osaanya said hundreds of youths had agreed to partake in the protest, which he said would last for days to call the Federal Government’s attention to the urgency of fixing the road.

He described the road as a death trap saying that commuters and drivers spend days at a particular deplorable section of the road before getting to their destination.

Osaanya said trucks and other vehicles were trapped on the road between Bayelsa and Rivers State and wondered why Umahi would maintain deaf ears despite the outcries of the people.

He blamed the development on the minister saying he engaged inexperienced contractors to work on the road.

He said: “The problem we are facing on the East-West Road is caused by Dave Umahi, the Minister of Works. How on earth will he carve out the most disturbing spot that needs more urgent attention to a sub-standard contractor?

“Or is the Minister intentionally suffering the people of the Niger Delta? We will bring the protest to the doorstep of the Minister and the President so that President Tinubu will know what we are going through”.

Osaanya called on all the relevant groups and leaders of the Niger Delta such as the Ijaw National Congress, INC, Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, the Movement for the Survival of Ijaw Ethnic Nationality, MOSIEND, the Ijaw Elders Forum, Dr Goodluck Jonathan and others to join the protest.

He further urged E.K Clark, the Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, whom he said had started the protest as well as former Governor Seriake Dickson and Rivers State Governor, Siminialayi Fubara, to identify with the demonstration.

He said: “We can’t continue to live like this as a people. This is the major road connecting all of us in the Niger Delta, where the bulk of the resources used in constructing mega roads in other parts of the country come from.

“Why should we always be on our knees to go for what we rightly deserve. This coming protest is another sad reminder of how we have been marginalized and neglected as a people”.