Protesters lock down Ogbomosho-Oyo road

Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan

Residents of Ogbomoso community on Wednesday shutdown the Ogbomosho-Oyo axis of the Ibadan-Oyo-Ogbomosho-Ilorin express road as they peacefully protested the slow pace of work on the road.

The protesters includes the apex Ogbomosho indigenous socio-cultural group, Ogbomosho Parapo Agbaaye, (home and abroad), religious groups such as Christians Association of Nigerian, CAN, League of Imams, African Traditional Religions, security agencies, Igbo Community, Hausa Community and other interest groups in the area.

The residents had during a press conference on June 11, 2018 called on the federal government to accelerate works on the road and complete it by August 1 if the government wanted to avert protest and shutting down of the road.

The protesters who commenced their protest around 7am from the Takie Roundabout, Ogbomosho carried placards of different colours with vaious inscriptions, which include, “FG Complete our road”, “35 minutes Journey now 2 hours”, “Ogbomoso-Oyo road is our Boko Haram”, “Stop the killings, fix our road”, “We are not animals, we deserve better roads”, and “Complete the 18 years projects”.

They called the government to be sensitive to the plight of the people of the area. They also called on the government to complete the road which they described as a death trap for Nigerians plying the route.

Travelers and other road users, particularly heavy truck and articulated vehicles had a terrible time after spending hours at a standstill. Some motorists except trucks and heavy-duty vehicles took another route.

In a statement signed by Head of Churches in Ogbomoso, Reverend Israel Olaniyan; Secretary, Head of Churches, Bishop Adebayo Akintola; Chairman, League of Imams and Alfas, Ogbomoso zone, Alhaji Imam Nafiu Abdulkareem Atanda and Mr Michael Abioye, Secretary, Egbe Omo Ogbomoso Parapo Agbaye, they aid nothing less than 15 people lost their lives weekly on the road.

They claimed that the total number of lives lost annually was 780, stressing that about 14,040 people had died on the road in the last 18 years since the project was awarded.

Speaking, the Ogbomosho Community Chairman, Dr. Isreal Olaniyan stated, “we deemed it fit to organise this peaceful rally to build on the press conference we held on June 11, 2018, to call on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola to our plight on the snail speed construction of the Ogbomosho-Oyo Express Road.

“After the press conference in June, we have not stopped monitoring what is going on on the road. We did our research on the road. We found out the following, the Ogbomosho-Oyo Express Rad was awarded in 2010. It was a new Road meant to be completed in four years, but today, nine years after, it is 58 per cent completed. We appreciate the past leadership of our nation for awarding the construction of the Express Road. We are also grateful that the contract was awarded to a reputable construction firm”.

He said, “The present government has done well by not cancelling the project. We are also grateful to the incumbent government for using a part of the Sukkuk loan for a section of the road in 2017. We, however, found out that only 2.8 billion is appropriated for the road in the current budget, which is grossly inadequate for the work”.

He concluded, “Our plight is that the present Ogbomosho-Oyo Road has become a death trap. It kills more people than does HIV/AIDS or any other disease in this community. Statistics at our disposal indicates that an average of 25 people die on the road per week. When this is multiplied by fifty-two weeks that makes a year, it indicates that an average of 780 persons is lost annually on this road.

“When this is multiplied by 9 years since the Ogbomosho-Oyo section of Ilorin-Ibadan Express Road was awarded, it shows that an average of 7,020 persons have lost their lives on Ogbomosho-Oyo Road. This is alarming and calls for urgent completion of the express road under construction. Even yesterday some commuters lost their lives around Oolo. These have been a recurring decimal that must not be allowed to recur. Accidental deaths on the road have drastically cut short the life expectancy of persons living in this part of Nigeria”.