Varsity students protest over poor state of road
Some Students of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike in Abia state on Monday embarked on a peaceful protest against the deplorable state of Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the students, numbering at least 100, carried placards with different inscriptions.
They included: Fix Umuahia-Ikot-Ekpene road; Enough is Enough; I want to graduate and be a corper not a corpse.
The marched through major streets of Umuahia, the Abia state capital.
They expressed their displeasure over the inability of the Federal Government to fix the road and blamed the state of the road for the road accidents that had claimed lives of road users, especially students of the school.
They called for immediate action to alleviate the sufferings of road users and stop the occurrence of road accidents.
Speaking at the Akanu Ibiam Road, Chukwuma Ugochukwu, President, Students’ Union Government of MOUAU, said the state of the road had plunged road users into untold hardship.
Ugochukwu said: “Yesterday, a student of MOUAU was killed in an auto crash that involved an SUV and a Truck, which occurred on the Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road.
“We are no longer comfortable with that road.
“We are asking that this road should be looked into with immediate effect.
“This road has caused the school so much loss and we seek immediate government attention on the road.
“We are giving four days ultimatum to the state government to commence the palliative works on the Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road.”
Also, James Daniel, a student of MOUAU, said the deplorable state of the Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road had led to loss of many lives, especially those of students of MOUAU.
“In 2019, we were told that the road has been awarded, but the only work that we have seen is the construction of drainages, leaving the road undone,” Daniel added.
Somto Chukwu, another student of MOUAU, said the incessant occurrence of accidents on the Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road was a call on the government to match its words with action.
Chukwu said it was …