A league of human rights defenders in Edo State, led by Chief Patrick Osagie Eholor, who is the president of One Love Foundation, has reaffirmed its resolve to take their protests to the Benin-Sapele Expressway.
Eholor, whke speaking with Jungle-Journalist.Com on the telephone revealed that plans have been concluded by the activists to stop all vehicular movement on the popular federal road that connects South West Nigeria to the South-South.
He further stated that like many other federal highways in Nigeria today, Sapele Road has become a death trap for road users.
Eholor described the former governor of Lagos State and Minister for Works as an incompetent person, as he has failed woefully to fix roads, or fix electricity when he doubled as the Minister for Power.
His words: “When Mr Fashola was coming to power, he said he will fix electricity in Nigeria under six months. That if they don’t fix it, Nigerians should see them as incompetent and never vote for them again. Where is the power now, after six years?
“Last time, the same man said that Nigeria has become an El Dorado. To him, he has fixed the roads, but this man does not travel on any road in this country. Now he travels in aircrafts. So he does not experience the horror that ur roads have become. There is no good road in Nigeria – from North to South to East and West.
“Am sure the reason he said Nigeria has become El Dorado is because he is a minster and Nigeria pays him huge, while the common Nigerian suffers on the streets. So you tell him that from tomorrow, we are shutting down that road to stop further deaths. Our people get killed every day on that road and nobody cares.
“We are going to make a very strong statement tomorrow and until Fashola answers us, that road will remain shut down. Tomorrow, the federal government will experience the will of the Edo people, and our pain.”
If you are a motorist, look for an alternative route to use tomorrow. Benin-Sapele Expressway will be shut down. We regret the inconveniences but it’s for our overall best interest.
“Fashola should come down to Benin to address the road issues or the road will remain shut”, Eholor stated.