Community protests incessant killings by Heavy duty trucks in Ondo

Residents of Iwaro/Oka Akoko in Akoko Southwest Local Area of Ondo State on Saturday protested against what they called incessant killings by heavy duty vehicles.

The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions like,”Don’t turn our community into ghost town”, “Our lives matter,no solution, no Peace”, we are tired of accidentd on Akungba/Oka Road”.

Others are; ”ODSG construct alternative road on Akungba Oka Road” Incessant Accidents make us homeless”

The protesters, who blocked the roads in their thousands barricaded the Iwaro Oka road, preventing vehicular movement, said they had lost thousands of lives and properties worth millions of naira to the incessant accidents.

The Chairman of Iwaro Oka Community Union, Otunba Dele Ologbese, said the union decided to organise the protest due to menace caused by heavy duty trucks.

Ologbese said the town had been suffering economically due to farmers neglecting their farmlands because of fire incidents from incessant tanker accidents.

He urged the state governments to put permanent barricades against heavy duty vehicles and provide alternate routes for them.

The Reagent of the Asin of Iwaro Oka, Princess Adekemi Omorinbola said the accident was too much and that the complaints of the people of the town had been falling on deaf ears of the government.

Omorinbola urged government to ensure it moved swiftly to profer a lasting solution by gearing towards it’s responsibilities of protecting lives and properties.

“We are here because the accident is too much in this area, we can’t sleep with one eyes closed, talkless of the two eyes, it is affecting our people economically and pyscologically. We don’t have light, trailers have destroyed this town for us,” she said.

Femi Akerele,One of the Youth Leaders in the community said all efforts to let government put permanent barricade or construct alternative routes on the road to prevent further occurence had not been successful.

The Chairman of the Community,Mr Jerome Orole said the state government should act quickly on the problem before the youths of the town took laws into their hands.

Orole said the youths had planned to protest in a manner that government would not like before the elders in the town quickly took charge.

However, the Chairman of the Akoko Southwest Local Government, Hon. Dapo Fasesin, when contacted, said the governor had promised to solve the problem facing the community with heavy duty trucks.

Fasesin said Iwaro Oka road was part of the first projects embarked upon by Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, urging the community to believe the words of the governor that solution would be proffered to the incessant accidents.