From Tony John, Port Harcourt
Ex-agitators in the Niger Delta region are planning a massive protest against the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, for allegedly abandoning the East-West Road project.
Osaanya Osaanya, a leader of ex-agitators in the Niger Delta, said in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Thursday, that plans were underway for a massive demonstration.
Mr Osaanya said hundreds of youths had agreed to participate in the protest, which he said would last for days, to draw the Federal Government’s attention to the urgency of repairing the road.
He described the road as a death trap, saying commuters and drivers spend days on a particular deplorable section before reaching their destinations.
Mr Osaanya said trucks and other vehicles were trapped on the road between Bayelsa and Rivers states. He criticised Mr Umahi for allegedly ignoring the plight of the people.
He blamed the situation on the minister, accusing him of awarding the contract to an inexperienced contractor.
“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?
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“Or is the Minister intentionally making the people of the Niger Delta suffer? 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,” he said.
Mr Osaanya called on relevant groups and leaders in the Niger Delta, including the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), the Movement for the Survival of Ijaw Ethnic Nationality (MOSIEN), the Ijaw Elders Forum, former President Goodluck Jonathan, and others, to join the protest.
He further urged Edwin Clark; the Governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri – who he said had already begun protesting – as well as former Governor Seriake Dickson and Rivers State Governor, Siminialayi Fubara, to support the demonstration.
“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 get what we rightly deserve? This coming protest is another sad reminder of how we have been marginalised and neglected as a people,” he said.