The siege at the blocked East-West Road at the Eleme-Onne stretch has just been called off. This followed the order by the Eleme Local Council chairman, Oborilomate Ollor, who said the minister of Niger Delta Affairs had called him on the telephone.
The LGA boss said he suspends the protest on Eleme Axis of East-West Road for work to commence, giving indications that he ordered the closure. The chairman who was sworn in on June 17, 2021, had spoken angrily against federal authorities concerning the lingering Eleme bridge that always threatened to collapse. The moment he was sworn in, the tone went militant and soon, all youth groups in Eleme from all shades closed ranks and laid siege.
In the warnings ahead, the youth leaders described what was to come as the mother of all protests. When it began, there was heavy mobilization and a steady supply of food and water, indicating that important persons were behind the siege.
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As if the lend credence to this thinking, the chairman addressed the media at about 3pm ago at a spot along Eleme-Onne Road, not far from the popular Tipper Garage where construction equipment belongings to RCC were visibly seen as proof of their mobilisation to site. The youths had said they would not accept FG promises except they saw the evidence and the money to complete the work.
The Chairman said the suspension was sequel to the Minister’s initial brief of approval of N2.5Billion to the construction company as the first phase of the required sum to have the job done and subsequent. He said the Minister also reached out to him via phone calls.
The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSO) had said on Saturday, July 31, 2021, that the FG was holding discussions with selected persons instead of with the central body of the Ogoni people. This is usually understood to mean that any dialogue outside the MOSOP platform is never acceptable to Ogoni people. This is usually the sign of conflict ahead.
Sources however said the protest was not organized by MOSOP, thus, the suspension could only be by those who ordered it in the first place. The LGA chairman has just done that, and trucks that blocked the road have started pumping their tyres to roll off.
According to Ollor, the clearance of the trucks that will pave way for free vehicular movement is gradual and that the process has just begun with his announcement of the suspension.
