Many residents of the Ovrode oil community in Delta State’s Isoko North Local Government Area barricaded and lockdown the ever-bustling Ughelli/Asaba Expressway for the second time on Monday, protesting alleged neglect and marginalization by the Nigerian and state governments.
The demonstration, which began about 7:00 a.m., drew men, women, and youths from the community. “Ovrode is bleeding, no federal and state governments’ projects in Ovrode Community. Our Grammar school is in bad shape, with no teachers and no chairs, No constituency projects in Ovrode Community. Oil exploration in our community since 1963, nothing to show for it, among other inscriptions”.
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Commuters and motorists were left stuck as a result of the protest’s bottleneck which caused a major lockdown.
The President General of the Ovrode Town, Felix Efedhoma, addressed the demonstrators, saying that despite being an oil-rich community, the Nigerian government and the state government have abandoned the community since 1963.
Viano Unweh, the Ovrode community’s youth leader, and Tina Ataibuno, the community’s women leader, echoed the President General’s remarks by criticizing the area’s lack of infrastructure development.
They promised to keep protesting until the state and federal governments respond.
They claim to be a peaceful, loving community that has voted for both state and federal administrations in every election since 1999, although government presence at all levels is not noticed in the town.
For far too long, they claim, they have been taken for granted.
