Okenyi Kenechi
Residents of Nkpolu community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, on Monday, barricaded the East-Wes road, over the inability of both the state and the federal government to deal with the recurring flooding that has bedevilled the community in recent months.
Residents trooped out to register their displeasure over government’s negligence by sitting at the middle of the road in the early hours of Monday, thereby causing heavy traffic gridlock along the east-west road.
The Rivers state government through the ministry of works, in July, promised to mobilize equipment to the community to solve the flood problem. Five months after, the government seems to have distanced itself from the promises it made.
This has led to commuters avoiding a section of the dualized east-west road as a section of the road has been damaged causing mechanical damage to vehicles while heavy-duty vehicles fall at will.
A community leader, Wogbum Isreal told theportcitynews that the community has been flooded for months and all entreaties to the relevant authorities proved abortive as their letters were never acknowledged.
According to him, “It is a shame on the part of the government that the Nkpolu community has been allowed to suffer from this kind of disaster”
Wogbum who denied claims that there have been attempts to politicize the flooding in the area, described the flooding as an eyesore, stressing that it has become a pattern by the government to play politics with everything.
“Our children are sick due to the flooding, they can’t even go to school because of the flood”
A youth leader who spoke to theportcitynews said the purpose for the protest was to drag the attention of the government to the suffering of the community members.
He said that the youth are peaceful as they have no guns or machetes and urged governor Nyesom Wike and president Mohammadu Buhari to come to the aid of the community and lift their suffering.
Although police teams were seen at the scene of the protest in a bid forestall any breakdown of law and order, the community members conducted themselves peacefully.
Theportcitynews made several calls to the Rivers State commissioner for information, Emma Okah, for comments on the matter but he did not answer our calls.
The community members vowed to continue with the protest until government wades into the matter.
