The Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality (MOSIEND) and other ethnic and youth groups in the Niger Delta region, have berated the federal government over the current state of the East-West road, especially the Ogoni axis of the highway in Rivers State.
The ethnic and youth groups include; the Rivers State Youth Leaders Assembly (RSYLA), the Ogoni Youth Federation (OYF), the Niger Delta Youth Leaders Coalition for Peace and Progress (NDYCPP) and the Ijaw Peace Movement (IPM).
Others were the Niger Delta Youths for Practical Development (NDYPD), the Ogoni People Assembly (OPA), the Association for Non Violence in the Niger Delta (ANVND) and the Rivers State Ethnic Youth Leaders Coalition (RSEYLC).
The groups, in a communique issued at the end of an emergency town hall meeting in Port Harcourt, called on the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Umana Okon Umana, to compel the two construction companies handling the entire stretch of the East-West Road, especially the Ogoni axis to mobilise to site as that axis has turned to a death trap.
The communique, which was read by MOSIEND President, Kennedy Tonjo West, reads in part: “That the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs should compel Setraco and RCC to immediately mobilize to site for the onward repairs of the entire stretch of the East-West road particularly the Ogoni axis that has turned to a death trap as it has made the region loose monumentally.
“That it was also agreed in the meeting that the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and his counterpart in the Ministry of Works and Housing should liaise together and bring to fruition this lingering road network to alleviate the age-long sufferings of the people of the region.”
The groups also called for the sack of the sole administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Barrister Effiong Okon Akwa, as well as the scrapping of the office of Sole Administrator in the NDDC.
They said: “That Mr. President should exhibit lawfulness and save the situation in the region and as a matter of urgency terminate the appointment of Barrister Effiong Okon Akwa and scrap the office of the Sole Administratorship.
“That the National Assembly should as a matter of expedience approve and authorize the release of all funds due the interventionist agencies like the NDDC.
“That the employment carried out under Senator Akpabio’s supervision be halted especially employment done within 2021 up on till recently, as the process was lopsided, inequitable and lacked due process. We want the Honourable Minister to revisit the process.”
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