Former agitators in the Niger Delta region are set for a massive protest over the deplorable state of the East-West Road.
The ex-agitators alleged that the road project had been abandoned, despite that it led to critical national infrastructure like the Onne port, the Port Harcourt Refinery, and Indorama Eleme Petrochemical Ltd, among others.
One of the leaders of the repentant militants, Osaanya Osaanya, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Thursday, said they would mobilise for what he termed the mother of all protest, to express their anger over the abandonment of the road by the government.
Osaanya further said hundreds of youths in the region had agreed to join the protest, which, he said, would last for days, to compel the Federal Government to immediately fix the road.
He described the road as a death trap, adding that commuters and drivers spent days at a particular deplorable section of the road before getting to their destinations.
Osaanya said trucks and other vehicles were repeatedly trapped on the road between Bayelsa and Rivers states and wondered why the Federal Government, through the Minister of Works, David Umahi, was looking the other way.
He stated, “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 urgent attention to a sub-standard contractor?
“Or is the Minister of Works intentionally suffering the people of the Niger Delta? We will bring the protest to the doorstep of the Minister and the President so that they 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, the Ijaw Youth Council, the Movement for the Survival of Ijaw Ethnic Nationality, the Ijaw Elders Forum and the former President, Goodluck Jonathan, to join the protest.
He further urged Ijaw leader and elder statesman, Edwin Clark; the Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, who he said had started the protest, as well as former Governor Seriake Dickson and Rivers State Governor, Siminialayi Fubara, to identify with the demonstration.
