From Tony John, Port Harcourt

The Ogoni Liberation Initiative (OLI) has given seven days ultimatum to the Federal Government to resume work on the deplorable Eleme axis of the East-West road, or the business activities and vehicular movement on that part of Rivers State would be shut down.

President of the group Douglas Fabeke declared this when he addressed newsmen at one of the numerous deplorable sections of the road during their peaceful protest on Monday.

Fabeke lamented that the Eleme axis of the East-West road has become a death trap for road users, which had already claimed several lives in the last two weeks.

He expressed: “As you are all aware, the deplorable state of the Eleme section of the East-West road has been a major concern for residents of the area and commuters. Day in and day out, we hear cases of accidents leading to the loss of innocent lives and the destruction of valued properties that were bought with millions of naira.

“The road has been a death trap for commuters as travellers are always scared while using the roads alongside heavy-duty trucks from companies. May I first express my heartfelt condolences to the families of those that lost their loved ones in the fatal accident that occurred on Friday, the 7th day of October 2022, where a truck loaded with containers fell on a 13-seater bus between New Town Junction and Onne Trailer Park axis, killing eight people.

“And another ugly accident occurred on Friday the 14th of October, 2022, wherein a truck loaded with 40 feet container lost its balance on the Aleto bridge and pushed a Toyota Hilux and Toyota Sienna car into the heavy flowing Aleto river, thereby leading to the death of four persons.

“I received this news with rude shock and I pray for their souls to find rest in the bosom of the Almighty God. I, however, state that these accidents would have been avoided if the government had made good her promise by reconstructing the road.

“The death of these innocent people is one of the too many recent incidents that triggered this press release.”

Fabeke said the East-West section of the road measuring 15 kilometres from trailer park to Eleme junction with a connecting bridge, is one of the busiest segments of the federal highway resulting from the consistent haulage of goods from the Onne seaport, the Port Harcourt Refinery, the Indorama Petrochemical, the Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone and many others firms.

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He disclosed: “The road connects eight Local Government Areas such as Khana, Gokana, Tai, Eleme, Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro, Okrika and Oyigbo Local Government Areas, including Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, to Port Harcourt.

“The road also serves over 200 multinational companies such as the Indorama Petrochemical and Fertilizer Company, Intels Nigeria Ltd, Nigeria Ports Authority, Port Harcourt Refinery, and many others.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria had promised several times to fix the bad section of 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.

“Recall that sometime in July 2021, the Ogoni people together with her neighbours blocked and protested on the said road for seven days, calling on the government to immediately reconstruct the road. In reaction to this protest, the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Niger Delta Ministry told Nigerians that they have released the sum of N2.5 billion as compensation for the construction of the Eleme-Onne axis of the East-West Road.

“They also told us that they have mobilized contractors to move to the site immediately. However, it is over a year today, and not a single construction work has been done, thereby making our people continue to suffer as a journey which ordinarily would have taken 30 minutes now takes five to six hours.

“Our people have suffered so much in the midst of plenty and we cannot sit down and watch our people die painful and untimely death resulting from the bad state of the road. The government has continued to play gimmicks with the lives of our people.

“Yesterday we heard that the road is under the Niger Delta Ministry, today we hear that it is under the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, tomorrow we hear that it has been transferred to the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF). Yet, nothing to show for it. We are tired of these gimmicks and we call on the government to stop playing politics with the lives of our people.”

“If the Federal Government can expend over N48 billion on pipeline surveillance contract, there should be no reservations in fixing the Ogoni axis of the East-West road which generates a large amount of revenue for the nation.

“We, therefore, call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to immediately within seven days, commence work on the reconstruction of the road and the remodelling of the existing connecting Aleto bridge which is near collapsing, failing which the Ogonis shall mobilise again and shut down all forms of transportation and economic activities on the road.

“At this time, what we are demanding is a total reconstruction of the failed section of the road and not rehabilitation. Thus any attempt to rehabilitate the road just to secure some political points ahead of the 2023 general elections shall be totally resisted by the Ogoni people.”