Benin residents protest poor roads, power outage

Residents of Evbuotubu, Iguedayi and other neighbouring communities in the Egor Local Government Area of Edo State on Wednesday took to the streets of Benin, the state capital, to protest against what they described as the deplorable condition of the roads in the communities.

Scene of the protest

The protesters, under the aegis of the Movement for Better Tomorrow, grounded traffic for several hours as they marched through the busy Ring Road to the state House of Assembly at about 8.30am.

Activities on Sapele Road also came to a halt, prompting motorists to seek alternative but longer routes to their destinations.

Some of the aggrieved protesters, including youths and market women, displayed placards with inscriptions calling for the reconstruction of the affected roads by the state government. They also urged the government to address the problem of power outage in the area.

Security operatives from the Nigeria Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were at the scene of protest to ensure that the protesters did “not take the law” into their hands.

The aggrieved residents later made their way to the Government House, where they were received by the Chief of Staff to the state governor, Mr. Patrick Obahiagbon, who assured them that the state government would look into their complaints.

One of the protesters, Mr. Ken Obasuyi, told our correspondent that the poor condition of the roads had been worsened by persistent rainfalls which had increased the cost of living in the communities.

Obasuyi said, “We are having a peaceful protest to call on the state government to work on our roads. We don’t have roads. We don’t have a health centre and schools.

“Evbuotubu links Oliha, Owina and Asoro roads; we are appealing to the state government to do something about this road and others. When it rains, commercial bus drivers charge N200 from Ring Road to Evbuotubu bus stop, instead of N50.”

A trader in Evbuotubu market, Mrs. Helen Eyerekpen, also called for the intervention of the state governor in repairing the roads, saying traders were losing their businesses to other communities.

“The bad roads have affected us a lot. When residents from Ugbiyoko community want to buy things from our market, they just go to Oba Market or Oliha because we don’t have good roads.

“We want the government to help us; that is why we are here,” the mother of three said.

Another resident, Mr. Matthew Osadolor, also lamented that power outage in the community had not helped matters, adding that his mother, a trader, had been counting her losses due to poor patronage.

“People don’t go to our shops again or the market. Our youths, who learnt welding, cannot work because there is no power supply in the area

“I can’t remember the last time we had electricity in Evbuotubu. The community has one of the largest votes in Egor, but it is like Evbuotubu is not part of Benin.

“My mum owns a shop in Evbuotubu. Just yesterday, she threw away most of her bunches of plantain because they had become bad. The governor should please attend to the area.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, Mr. Curtis Nwadei, promised to get back to our correspondent, as soon as he got details of the state of power supply in the affected community, from the business manager.

Benin residents protest poor roads, power outage