Ogun: Protest rocks Atan, Agbara, Igbesa over deplorable roads

There were massive protests in Atan, Agbara and Igbesa areas of Ogun State as residents, comprising small business operators, residents and community leaders took to the streets over the deplorable state of roads in their communities. The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions, shouting they could no longer live with the worsening road condition, which […]

There were massive protests in Atan, Agbara and Igbesa areas of Ogun State as residents, comprising small business operators, residents and community leaders took to the streets over the deplorable state of roads in their communities.

The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions, shouting they could no longer live with the worsening road condition, which they attributed to negligence by the Ibikunle Amosun administration.

In their hundreds, the aggrieved protesters marched in the Lusada axis of the long Atan-Agbara road, bearing placards with inscriptions like, ‘Let Our Tax Deduction Count’, Give Us Good Roads’, ‘Bad Road is Aiding Insecurity in our Communities’, and ‘No Good Roads, No Massive Votes in 2019’.

They accused the Ibikunle administration of “deliberately inflicting havoc” on them and their socio-economic activities by abandoning the on-going road construction in the areas.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the Otunba Amona of Igbesaland, Adewunmi Durojaiye, accused both the state and federal governments of being insensitive to their plight and threatened not to vote in the 2019 elections if the roads were not fixed soon.

According to Durojaiye, despite the fact that the areas generate about 85 per cent of the state’s internally generated revenue, they have been neglected in terms of socio-economic infrastructure.

“This government is deceitful. They came here in 2015 with tractors when the election was coming up with a promise to construct the roads if re-elected. But as soon as they get our votes, they abandoned the project.

“There are no good roads here, where they get the large junk of their revenue, yet they are constructing a 10-lane road from Abeokuta to Sagamu. How do you explain that? It is unacceptable,” he declared.