Residents of Teboga and Uteh communities in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, on Tuesday, gave the state government a 30-day ultimatum to fix the road leading to their communities.
They threatened that if the demand not met at the end of the ultimatum, they will continue to barricade the ever-busy road leading to the Aduwawa axis of the state.
The people gave the ultimatum when they barricaded the Teboga road, leading to the Aduwawa axis of the state in protest of the bad roads.
Addressing newsmen, Elder Enabosi Edward, chairman of Iwogban North landlords and Landladies association, said the Iwogban-Uteh-Teboga road has remained in a very sorry state for several years with the government making promises of fixing it but all to non-avail.
He said having waited patiently for the government to fix it and nothing is being done to that effect, they have decided to block the road to register their grievances.
“Our roads from this Iwogban-Uteh-Teboga road, have been taken over by erosion. We have even made hand bridges through our own self-help so that we can assess our homes.
“All along, we have been talking with the government. People who claimed to be government officials have been coming to inspect the roads and when they come, they promised that the road has been awarded and that they are coming to work on the road. They just promised and they did nothing”, he said
Elder Enabosi said they have made frantic efforts to reach the appropriate authorities to construct the road and it has not yielded any positive result.
“Of recent, about three weeks ago, some government officials came and said that we should go and plant bamboo in a gully that is above 15 feet deep because the road is so bad.
“We do not know if they were sent by the government. We made effort to see the governor, we could not see him. We went to the Commissioner, only one of the directors told us that the place has been captured and that works will soon commence but with this new directive that we should go and plant bamboo, it means that there is no hope”, he said.
Also speaking, a resident and landlord of one of the communities, Engr. Duke Josiah Ighomuaye, said it is painful for a landlord to be a tenant in his old age.
“Landlords are at the verge of becoming tenants. How do you become a tenant at an old age? We beg you Mr Governor, you can see elders sitting in the sun since morning.
Another resident, Mrs Patience Osayande, said they are always apprehensive whenever it rains because of the volume of flood in the community and thus pray that none of their children should fall inside the gully.
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