Hunger protest: Protesters defy downpour, barricade Delta road
CHIGOZIE AMADI
#EndBadGovernance protesters with placards with different inscriptions defied heavy downpour in Ughelli, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State on Thursday as they barricaded the East-West road at its Ughelli axis to express their agitation.
The protesters demanded that the ”Federal Government should enunciate policies that will better the lots of Nigerians and reversal or abolishment of fuel subsidies cancellation.”
The protesters who besieged the Otovwodo junction of the East-West road, the same spot where the #EndSARS protest started in 2020, blamed President Bola Tinubu’s administration for allegedly implementing unfavourable economic policies.
“Those policies were not geared toward providing a good standard of living for Nigerians and fostering a lot of hunger in the citizenry,” they chorused during the protest.
However, the Nigerian Army’s quick intervention saved the situation from degenerating into crisis as the armed personnel escorted the protesters to ensure there was no violence or breakdown of law and order.
Earlier, the Ughelli North LG council chairman, Jaro Egbo, cautioned protesters from entering the streets of Ughelli and its environs insisting that Oharisi Primary School was the designated area for the protesters to exercise their rights.
As of the time of filing this report, more than ten Hilux patrol vans of the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Mobile Police, Nigeria Civil Defence and Security Corps, the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) and other security agencies were stationed at the junction to combat any attempt by hoodlums to hijack the protest
