Youths in Akotogbo community in Irele Local Government Area of Ondo State, on Thursday, blocked the major roads in the town, protesting over alleged neglect by the state government.
The youths in their hundreds converged on Akotogbo/Ajagba road warned politicians from all the political parties to steer off the town, vowing to disrupt all political meetings, rallies and campaigns.
Armed with placards of various inscriptions, the youths such as “Ondo Government pay Attention to Akotogbo,’, ‘Our roads are the worst in Ondo State,’ No light, no teachers in schools at Akotogbo,” No good road, no election at Akotogbo, among others, said except government urgent attention is paid to infrastructural facilities in the town, the 2023 election will not hold in the area.
The protesters alleged that the 12 kilometres Akotogbo -Ajagba Road, linking the area with other parts of Ondo State have been cut off for a long time while the government never bothered to attend to the road.
The development paralysed economic activities in the town for hours, while there was traffic gridlock during the protest, preventing vehicular movement, as motorists were forced to find alternative routes to go in and out of the town.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
- Bandits Storm Kaduna Airport, Stop Aircraft From Taking Off
- Lagos Socialite Who Distributed Petrol As Souvenir Sentenced To Two Years Imprisonment, Gets Fine Option
They stated that the community lacked good roads, electricity and many other infrastructures as a result of neglect by the government.
Speaking during the protest, the Chairman Youth Group Mr Nenuwa Ayodele expressed disappointment on all the political office holders from the area, saying the people of the town had never enjoyed the dividends of democracy since the advent of this political dispensation.
According to him, Akotogbo remains the only town at the border side of Edo and Ondo States state with no good road and electricity supply.
He said all the routes leading to the town have become a nightmare and deathtrap as hoodlums have turned the failed sections of the roads to robbery zones.
He explained that “kidnappers have turned the only road linking the town with other parts of Ondo state to death traps as they operate and strike on the road on daily basis.”
The Regent of Akotogbo, High Chief Iwalewa Emoruwa, who appealed to the youths, however, called on the state government to urgently respond to the plights of the people of the community.
How Workplace Sexual Harassment Forces Many Out Of Their Dream Jobs
Ondo youths protest over alleged neglect
and then