It was hot this morning in Ogheghe community, Ikpoba okha local government area of Edo state, where citizens of the community engaged in a peaceful protest blocking the Benin-Sapele road axis due to the failed rehabilitation of the dilapidated federal road by the government.
The peaceful protest had aggrieved protesters
gathered in mass with placards all over the place, as a demonstration of their dissatisfaction with the current disaster. It also led to the mounting of barricades in several sections of the road. During the protest, an All Campus correspondent reported that
vehicles, and trailers packed in pools of water could be seen waiting in the surrounding area, as well as citizens who complained about the government's neglect of the abandoned project.
Speaking with one of the facilitators, Comr. Curtis Ogbegbor, a Human Rights Activist/Founder of Freedom Ambassador Organizational and Interim Coordinator General of Edo Civil Society Organization, disclosed that the community, likewise the road commuters, has suffered a great deal over the years due to the bad road conditions.
He identified the outcome of the ordeal as the cause of several accidents, destruction of vehicles, and the claiming of lives and property.
According to him, the people resorted to the protest after a failed assurance last year by the state's governor and the organizations involved. He called on the Edo state governor and the Federal Minister of Works and Housing to act swiftly and further said that they will not stop protesting until work commences fully on the road. In agreement with this, a University of Benin student lamented about the discomfort she always experience when taking the route, stating that the traffic is always terrible because of the poor state. Also, a Delta State University student on her way back to school from Benin decry the bad state of the road, saying a lot of lives had been lost on the same road.
While another, who was also disturbed by the protest this morning, conveyed disappointment in the state government and supported the protesters despite the negative effect of this act on his schedule.