The protest by Ikpoba hill youths led by Kingsley Osemwigie as a result of the deplorable condition of the Benin- Agbor Express Way which enters the fifth day today has paralysed commercial activities in and around the vicinity stretching from the First Bank area of Ikpoba Okha local government area to as far as Two sisters in Edo state.

The blockage mounted in strategic axis of the road starting from around First Upstairs area and another before the popular Agbor Park market and yet another around Ogbeson Primary School in Agbor Park in Ohovbe and Ogbeson quarters and several others around Benin Depot, one in front of Christ Chosen Church Of God, and another at Winners Chapel have completely crippled commercial activities in the area as  heavy duty trucks and trailers littering the road have created a chaotic situations making vehicular movement impossible.

Speaking to the Press at the scene of the blockage, a trailer driver who identified himself simply as Stanley said that he has spent 4 days at the blocked spot adding that he was on his way from Uyo en route Lagos.

According to him, ” As you can see all those people sitting under the canopy and those others loitering around are all trailer drivers who are stranded as a result of the blockage  and we are suffering so much hardship. We have been sleeping inside our trucks with our motor boys with no place to have our baths. Most of us have no money on us but the chairman of the Youth make sure we are given food in the morning and in the evening but  we want to go home to our families as our family members are apprehensive of our safety while the owners of the vehicles and the people that own the goods we are carrying are all worried about their goods and are constantly calling us.

“We are therefore begging the Edo state governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki to put politics of whose duty to fix the road aside and come to our rescue as the boys have refused to dismantle the blockage and as it appears without his co-operation the road will not be opened and we will remain here until only God knows when”

Another respondent who spoke in a similar vein said that he came in from Asaba, Delta state, for a church program in Benin and that the program ended today being Sunday but that he couldn’t go home because of the blockage.

“I came from Asaba for a church program in Benin and to the glory of God, the program ended today. I wanted to go home now but there is no road because the Youths have barricaded the road. We are begging the Youths and Edo state governor Mr Godwin Obaseki to reach a compromise so that we can go back to our respective homes and rejoin with our families.

A professor of Statistics who was visibly angry because he was caught up in the chaotic Imbroglio, as a result of the blockage, Professor Joseph Mba, said that it was unbelievable that the Edo state governor Mr Godwin Obaseki could become so unconcerned about the plight of Edo people he so much campaigned to govern.

According to him,” I am on my way  to Lagos because I live in Lagos. I knew Obaseki before he became the governor of Edo state. It is very unfortunate per the expectation of him as enlightened as he is, expectation that he promised that he was going to do better than the previous governors , that he has a company  Afrinvest that is doing so well but  doing so badly as a governor. Presently, Obaseki is the worst governor in the south South. By my calculation, he is not expected to build the long federal road but  Nysome Wike, no matter what you talk about him, he built all link roads to the federal. One would have expected Obaseki to do some remedial works on the failed portions so that it could be motorable to some extent even if he can’t get a refund from the federal government but, no, what do you get’ absolute abandonment. Soon, he would want to go to Senate, is it the people you abandoned when you were a governor you would go back and beg to make you a senator?. He knows me and I will say it to his face when we meet one on one. I am disappointed in him.

Responding to a question why he is blaming Godwin Obaseki for the negligence of the federal government, he had this to say,” the federal government is a complete failure but there is a portion of the link roads that belongs to your own state. All you needed do was to take it from there and link up to the federal road. Build the link roads to mitigate these kind of incidences because the local people are not interested in which road belong to the federal or the state. The federal government has failed in every quarter, just mention one area where the federal government has not failed.

” Go to Port Harcourt, you can call Wike whatever you like but go and see the state of the art roads he constructed, he has performed. Can the same be said of Obaseki?

Also speaking  to the Press at the scene of the blockage opposite Christ Chosen Church, the Chairman of Ikpoba Hill Youths Forum Comrade Kingsley Osemwigie said that the protest is attracting the desired attention of concerned authorities as the State government has brought two additional earth moving machines yesterday making a total of three catapillers the government has deployed to the area in preparatory to the remedial work expected to be carried out to make the road motorable.

According to him, ” the government brought additional two catapillers making a total of three catapillers now. They said they are going to bring 20 trucks of hard core tomorrow being Monday but our Youths are not happy with the government because this is the fifth day of the protest and not a single individual from the government has come to address our protesting youths and we are not happy about that because we are citizens of this state who voted in this Government who in their campaigns promised to look into our concerns but just look now we have been out calling on our governor but he has not come to see why his people are not happy. We expected him to have come out to address us or at least send a representative”.

Also responding to the Press, Barrister Omoruyi Happy, a resident of the area and the Financial Secretary of Ikpoba Hill Youths Forum said that they appreciate the efforts of the government so far for bringing additional two catapillers preparatory to the palliative they are urging the government to provide on the failed portions.

” We appreciate the efforts of the Edo state government so far for bringing additional two catapillers for the repair work and we are appealing to the state government to fast track the process of repairs so that everyone can be relieved of the tension created by the deplorable condition of the road.

” I want to use this opportunity to thank all the security agencies particularly the Edo state Commissioner of Police, the area Command who have been very supportive in providing security  and we also have our security surveillance on ground to make sure hoodlums do not hijack the process and we want to appeal for calm as what we are doing is just asking the government to be responsive to the agitations of its citizens. We are  not asking for too much, we are just saying that government should help fix the road so that we can live our lives peacefully. When the road is repaired now, it is not only the Youths that would enjoy it but certainly everyone will benefit from  it as people would be able to move about their daily businesses and the fear of constant trailers falling and emptying their contents on the road and regular accidents would be a thing of the past,”