The People of Ogoni Community in River State, Niger Delta region Southern Nigeria, have decried the deplorable condition of the Eleme East-West Road.
Submitting the second letter to the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola in Abuja, the President of Ogoni Liberation Initiative, Dr.Fabeke Douglas each expressed worry about the bad condition of the road which is seriously affecting the people of the community.
Dr Douglas said; “The deplorable state condition of the Eleme East-West Road has been a major concern for the residents of the area and commuters, everyday, we experience cases of accidents leading to the loss of innocent lives and properties worth Millions of Naira.
“The road has become a death trap for commuters as travellers are scared while using the road alongside heave duty trucks that are passing from companies.”
He explained the importance of the road to the people of the community and to Nigerian government, hence, the urgent need to rehabilitate the road for the benefit of all.
“The sections of the road measuring 15 kilometers from trailer park to Eleme junction with a connecting bridge is one of the busiest segment of the highway resulting in the consistent haulage of goods from the Onne seaport, the Port Harcourt Refinery, the Indorama Petrochemical, the Oil and Gas free trade zone among others.
“The road is connecting eight Local Government Areas such as Khana, Gokana, Tai, Eleme, Andoni, Opobe/Nkoro, Okrika and Oyigbo Local Government Areas as well as Akwa Ibom and Cross River States to Port Harcourt.”
He said;“The road also serves over 200 Multinational companies such as the Indorama Petrochemical and Fertilizer Company, Intels Nigeria Ltd, Nigeria Port Authority, Port Harcourt Refinery, and many others,”Dr Douglas stated.
“The Nigeria Government has promised several times to fix the road but the people are yet to see any sign of construction work, this is very sad and unfortunate considering the billions of Naira the Government generates from the companies using the road.”
In July last year, the Ogoni people blocked the road for seven days, calling on the Nigerian government to immediately reconstruct the road. Reacting to this, the Nigerian government said it released N2.5b to construct the road but the Community insisted that nothing was done on the road.
Dr. Douglas, noted that, the people of Ogoni Community has again given the Nigerian government seven days ultimatum to fix the road to avoid the blockage again.
“We called on the Nigerian Government to immediately within seven days begin the reconstruction of the road and remodeling the existing Aleto bridge which is near collapsing.
“Failure to do so, the Ogoni people will mobilise again and shut down all forms of transportation and economic activities on the road.”
While receiving the complaint letter, the Nigerian Government through the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola again promised to start work on the road soon.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
