A 45-year-old artist, Balogun Omokhafe, from Ekpesa in Akoko-Edo local government area, on Monday completed a four-day trek from Akoko-Edo local government area to Benin City in protest of the dilapidated state of the Igarra-Ibillo section of the Auchi-Ibillo Road.
Omokhafe lamented that the dilapidated state of the road had made it easy for kidnappers to pick their victims, adding that from an estimated conservative statistic, 100 people have been kidnapped on the axis and many deaths recorded citing the case of the Ward 1 Labour Party (LP) chairman, Okasime Olowojoba who has been kidnapped for over four months and he is yet to be seen.
Narrating his experience to journalists, he said, “I am from Ekpesa in Akoko-Edo local government area. I am an artist. I trekked from Auchi to Benin. The journey started from Ibillo, but because of the rain, I took a vehicle to Auchi and started trekking from there to Benin to see the governor in the government house.
“The reason for this trek is about the bad road from Auchi to Ibillo, especially from Igarra to Ibillo axis, which has become a death trap to our people.
“You can’t travel along that road and bid your family a proper farewell because you may not return.
“From rough statistics, over 100 people have been kidnapped on that road, and many have been killed. The Ward 1 Labour Party (LP) chairman in Akoko-Edo has been kidnapped on that road for the past four months, and to date, he has not been seen.
On whether he was not scared of dangers along the way, he said, “This trek took me four days to get to Benin, what we have been facing in Akoko-Edo conquered the fear I would have had on the way to Benin
“We want the government to look into the Auchi—Igarra road and fix it for us.
We know the governor is a hard-working governor.
I even saw some of the work he is doing while trekking to Benin. We need his support to save us from the kidnappers because the road is not good. Those kidnappers will not be able to operate there if the road is good.”
