Youths in Edo state have taken to the streets to protest against bad governance and insecurity in the state on Wednesday.
The protest took place on the Auchi-Igarra-Ibillo road, where the protesters blocked the roads over the high rate of kidnapping and poor infrastructure in the area.
According to reports, this has created a traffic jam on the road as travellers, including heavy-duty vehicles were stuck for hours.
The protesters lamented that kidnapping has been too rampant as a result of the dilapidated state of the road in the area. They cited the case of a chieftain of the Labour Party, Okasime Olowojoba who has been in the custody of kidnappers for almost a month.
Even though the kidnappers already collected over five million naira from the victim’s family and friends, they refused to release him. The agitators went on to accuse local security personnel of failing in their duties to address rising insecurity in the area.
Additionally, one of the protesters, Paul Lawani called out the Local Government chairman in the area for not fixing the bad roads that enable the daily kidnapping.
Furthermore, Lawani noted that none of the three general hospitals in Akoko-Edo Local Government is functioning adequately due to neglect. He also demanded that the government should come up with solutions to the kidnapping and bad roads.
Lastly, the protesters vowed to continue protesting until the state government attended to them.
In the meantime, The Otaru of Igarra, HRH Oba Adeche Saiki, has dispatched emissaries to persuade protesters to reopen the traffic road. He said he had earlier petitioned the state government over the deteriorating road conditions and rising cases of kidnapping.
