By Igoniko Oduma / Yenagoa
Despite her age, a 90-year-old woman, Madam Omiekumo Numo, has led the people of coastal Okoroboa community in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State to protest against the Federal Government’s refusal to construct the Opume-Okoroba road project in the state.
Investigation showed that contract for the road was awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in 2011 to a firm known as Mangrove Tech which has changed its name to Kakata Company.
But the road project, which terminates at the Ogbia-speaking Okoroba in Nembe area, had been abandoned by the NDDC.
President Goodluck Jonathan hails from the neighbouring Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.
The road was one of the Federal Government projects visited by the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, during his ‘Good Governance Tour’ to the state early last year.
Many of the aggrieved community protesters accused the company of incompetence.
They marched through the muddy road which has sand dumped on some parts of it by the company handling it, singing solidarity songs.
Some of the placards carried by them had inscriptions like, “EFFC: Probe payment of Compensation”, “NDDC save Our Soul”, “We say No to delay”, “Enough is Enough: Give us back our road” and “Sand is not an excuse”.
“The people of my community are suffering and my children have abandoned me in the village due to the bad road”, the 90-year-old Numo cried in an interview with newsmen.
“I am hungry. I woke up since 5am to lead this protest march through the muddy water on the abandoned road to show how serious and pained we are as a people”, she lamented.
Spokesman of Okoroba, Morris Igaki, noted that the lack of road to the community had resulted to series of armed attacks by sea pirates and deaths including the December 2012 air crash that killed former Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Yakowa, and former National Security Adviser, General Owouye Andrew Azazi.
Igaki lamented that nurses and doctors posted by the state government to the Cottage Hospital in the community usually stay away for fear of attacks by pirates.
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