A group known as Concerned Edo Citizens for the second day yesterday blocked the Auchi axis of the Benin – Ekpoma – Auchi Abuja highway over alleged abandonment of the reconstruction work started in 2013.
The group mobilised residents and other road users who have made the road completely impassable and at the popular Jattu Junction, mounted canopies, made fires and cooked food.
The protesters also got the sympathy of the truck drivers’ union within Etsako West axis as they deployed their vehicles to block the junction which is a gateway to the Benin- Ekpoma – Abuja highway.
The blockage caused a long stretch of trailers to block one lane from Jattu junction to Okpella and Agbede with a lot of inconvenience to other road users.
A similar incident occurred last year which led to assurances by officials of the federal ministry of works through two royal fathers from the area, the Otaru of Auchi and the Ogieneni of Uzairue to start rehabilitation of the road.
Similarly, the senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, recently lamented only N200 million was voted for the reconstruction of the road in the 2024 budget.
A lecturer at the Federal Polytechnic who spoke to Leadership stated, “Going around Auchi and environs have been tough in the last two days because the blockade of the highway spiraled into adjoining roads and streets in the town. One cannot even drive with the current cost of fuel so commercial vehicles have been the option adopted to move around the town.”
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