When widows, orphans protest over bad roads in Abuja

According to him, his parent died while travelling home to one of the south -south states on the Abuja- Lokoja road leaving only him behind to face the rigours of life and that he didn’t want other children to experience the suffering he went through before he found succour in Anawim orphanage home. Many of […]

According to him, his parent died while travelling home to one of the south -south states on the Abuja- Lokoja road leaving only him behind to face the rigours of life and that he didn’t want other children to experience the suffering he went through before he found succour in Anawim orphanage home.

Many of Ositelu’s types also stood under the scorching sun with perspiration formed on their fore head to draw the attention of the authorities concern to save lives on the road.

The orphans who were between the age of four and eight, said they were crying to the government under the sun to save many children from becoming orphans who are left to suffer due to accident that claim their parents.

One of the windows, Imagbo said she went through hell when her husband died in an accident, leaving only her to carry the burden of their two children.

She said that they are appealing on the government to dualise the road, saying they were suffering before they came to Anawim home when they lost their husbands to accident on the road.

“We don’t want other women to be going through what we are facing hence we are here with placards to protest government refusal to serious attention to the road.”   

The protest which was staged at Giri junction saw over 50 orphans including widows from Anawim Orphanage Home of the ‘Poorest of the Poor’ carrying placards that condemned the rate of accidents on the road.

The placard had the following inscriptions: save us form motor accident, I lost my parent because of accident, I am an orphan today and our concern is to stop accident on the Abuja- Lokoja road.

Accident on the ever busy road has been very alarming; on September 27, 2009 about 38 people were lost to accident while many other are still in various hospitals in excruciating pains.

According to the coordinator of the home, Rev sister Oresola Selo- Ojeme they decided to embark on the peaceful protest because the widows and orphans of the home lost either their parents or love ones to the accidents.

She said the group aimed to draw attention of the government to urgently dualise the road in order to prevent accidents.

I have been living in Gwagwalada for the past ten years and the accidents I have witnessed prompted me to set up the home to rendered humanitarian service,” said Oresola.“Almost every year, the government came with false pretence to dualised the road but ended up only putting pegs on the road and abandoning it later”

She said watching the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) evacuating accidents victims to the hospital or morgue prompted the protest, adding that the government had the money to dualize the road and should do so to save many lives

She complained that the Airport road they were making eight lanes now was not as busy as the Abuja –Lokoja road that links the southern and eastern part to the northern part of the country.

It is as a result of this that people from our orphanage home  including widows as well as orphans have been on the road since 7 am to cry to those concerned in the authority to save other children and women from suffering” she said.

According to her accidents that would have been avoided on the road occurred because the road is one lane. Because of the carelessness of those who are supposed to make the road motorable for us, we have lost innocent souls .We see FRSC evacuating dead bodies every day on this road.

“I have a widow here whose husband including their only son died in a motor accident while travelling home for a festival on this road. Now, I am taking care of the woman”

According to her, the accident happened when a coming motorist avoided a pot hole and collided with their vehicle, saying if the road was two lane, the accident would have been avoided.

Prince Milly Uzokwe, who was also among the protestors, said the road is the busiest road in the country yet it has been abandoned and attributed the refusal to dualise it to the fact that those in authority are not plying the road.

“The rates at which people are dying is demoralising and it appears that those who should be concerned don’t even ply the road as most of them in authority travel by air. If a minister had died on this road, they would have long dualised the it.”

She explained that she was protesting because of the accident that happened in 2003 at the junction which claimed over 70 lives, adding that mortuary and beds in Gwagwalada specialist hospital were filled to capacity while some injured persons were receiving treatment on the bare floor.

“As you can see, these children are orphans who are being taken care by sister Oresola. If not for her humanitarian gesture these children would have been left uncared for,” she said

Among the protesters was Dr Bigbang Einu of the Asokoro General Hospital, who described the protest as timely because of the Ember months.

He called on the government to fast track the expansion of the road due to high accidents rates recorded on the road.