Thousands of enraged youths took to the streets of Kwale, the administrative centre of Ndokwa West Local Government Area, Delta State, early Monday morning, disrupting vehicular movement and halting commercial activities in a large-scale protest against the absence of electricity in the region for over two decades.
The demonstrators, visibly agitated, demanded immediate power supply from the Okpai Power Plant Step-Down facility to communities in Ndokwa land.
According to the protesters, it is unacceptable that despite hosting significant gas reserves and power installations which feed into the national grid, Ndokwa communities have remained in total darkness for more than twenty years.
“We cannot continue to live like this while our resources power the nation,” one of the protesters declared. “Okpai supplies the national grid, yet we, the hosts, live in darkness. Enough is enough!”
Protesters erected large canopies at Ogume Junction, a crucial point along the Asaba–Kwale–Ozoro highway, completely obstructing traffic between Asaba, Kwale and Ozoro.
Long queues of stranded vehicles formed on both ends of the blockade, with passengers left with no choice but to wait.
A similar protest site was established at the Technical College Junction in Kwale, effectively shutting down the Asaba–Ughelli Road, another vital route in the region.
The protests prompted a heavy deployment of security operatives, including soldiers and police officers, who are currently stationed at strategic locations to monitor the situation.
As of the time of reporting, no violent confrontations had occurred between security agents and demonstrators.
Nonetheless, tension continues to rise in Kwale. Shops remain closed and local businesses paralysed as residents express fears that the peaceful demonstration might escalate.
A senior police officer present at one of the protest points declined to speak to the press, referring all enquiries to the Delta State Police Command Headquarters in Asaba.
The protest underscores long-standing feelings of marginalisation and neglect in Ndokwa land, a region rich in energy assets but lacking basic infrastructure.
Many demonstrators wielded placards bearing messages such as “Light Up Ndokwa Nation”, “We Are Tired of Darkness”, and “No Light, No Peace”.
Residents are now urging both the Delta State Government and the Federal Ministry of Power to urgently intervene and heed the protesters’ demands to prevent a potential breakdown of law and order.
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