Poly staff, students, residents protest over bad road, paralysed activities in Ekiti

Travellers in and outside Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, were held down for several hours on Monday as staff and students of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, as well as residents of Odo Ado staged a peaceful protest to call the attention of the federal government to the poor state of Poly road.

Poly road, Ado-Ekiti is a federal government road linking both federal and state institutions such as the Federal Polytechnic, Afe Babalola University, Ekiti Knowledge Zone, Air Force Base, and Ekiti International Cargo Airport, among others.

The road is also a major route for travellers going to Abuja, Lagos and Ondo states, among others.

Due to the state of the road, workers, including Federal Polytechnic staff, spend several hours daily to go to work and return from work because of the traffic congestion.

As part of measures to show their grievances and press home their demands, the protesters in large numbers barricaded the road, thus causing heavy traffic congestion, which held activities to a standstill for several hours.

Some of the placards displayed by the protesters read: ‘We deserve better treatment with our taxes’, ‘Save our Souls FG’, and ‘FG fix Ado Poly, ABUAD Road,’ among others

Addressing the protesters, the chairperson, Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics, Sunday Akomolafe; the Chairperson, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Adebayo Daramola; and Chairperson, Non-Academic Staff Union, Adebayo Abubakar, said the protest became necessary after government turned deaf ears to their plea over the years regarding the road.

According to them, the road has become a death trap for motorists. They alleged that more than five persons have died within this year as a result of accidents occasioned by the poor state of the road.

The staff noted that they have, on several occasions, contributed personal income to repair the road but its condition was beyond patching. “The road needs total reconstruction,” they added.

They vowed to continue to barricade the road unless the federal government takes the necessary action.

Some of the motorists and commuters stranded in the traffic commended the Polytechnic staff for the courage to call out the government.

The motorists affirmed that they spent all their earnings maintaining their vehicles as a result of the damages caused by the road.

As of the time of filling this report, the road was still being barricaded by the protesters and no government officials, whether at the state or federal level were on hand to address them.