Edo Youths Knock Political Office Holders For Campaigning For Tinubu’s Re-Election
…Says they neglecting their primary duty of providing security and infrastructure for their people
By Simeon OSAJIE
Some angry youths in Edo South Senatorial District today scolded political office holders in the state for campaigning for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election while neglecting their primary duty of providing security and infrastructure development for the people of the state.
The angry youths who came out in their large number blocked the Auchi-Igarra-Ibillo Road in protest of the dilapidated state of the road, challenged the State government to tell them what it has done on the dilapidated road and the insistent kidnapping in the senatorial district.
According to them, the dilapidated state of the road has resulted in a high rate of kidnapping and poor infrastructure in the entire local government area.
They complained that kidnapping had become a daily occurrence because of the bad roads and lack of adequate infrastructure.
The protesters scolded political office holders from the area who they said were not sensitive to the plights of the people.
The protest created gridlock on the road as travelers including heavy duty vehicles along the road were stalled for several hours.
The protesters lamented the case of a chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), identified as Okasime Olowojoba who, according to them has been kidnapped for almost a month and yet to be released despite the ransom of five million naira paid by family and friends to
the kidnappers.
One of the protesters, Paul Lawani, wailed that “we cannot continue to be slaves in our country. The government should come and tell us what they are doing.
“Akoko-Edo local government area has three general hospitals and none is functioning well.
“What is clear is that our colonial government knew the large size of Akoko-Edo that is why they sited three general hospitals. Today, Akoko-Edo is ripe for a military base, yet we have these bases in areas that may not necessarily need them.
“Is the local government chairman not aware that there is this security challenge before he was given the job? Are they not aware that one of the reasons for this kidnapping is because of this bad road? Instead of fixing the road, they are mounting Tinubu for 2027.
“We also want the state government to come and tell us what they want to do about this road and kidnapping.
“One of our brothers has been with the kidnappers for almost one month, they have collected money in millions, they are yet to release him.”
The protesters also accused the security agents in the area of not doing their job, vowing to to continue the protest until the state government attends to them.
It, however, took the intervention of Otaru of Igarra, HRH, Oba Adehce Saiki who sent emissaries to the protesters to open the road for traffic.
The king told the protesters through his emissaries that he had also written to the state government on the poor state of the road and level of kidnappings.
