A human rights lawyer, Ken Atswete, based in Port Harcourt, south-south Nigeria, has blamed the poor state of the East/West road for the death of the mother of Patience, the wife President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said despite the strident cries that this major road that links the oil rich Niger Delta is in a deplorable condition, it is taking the Federal Government so long to fix the road.
According to Atswete, “Governor Amaechi was publicly abused by Godsday Orubube last year for crying out that the Federal Government has neglected the road. He was villified for speaking out.”
He said that it is sad and a shame that President Jonathan’s failure in governance has to led to the death of many Nigerians on that road, particularly his mother-in-law, Charity.
According the vocal lawyer who reacted this morning, President Jonathan flies from Port Harcourt Airport to Yenagoa by helicopter to avoid the bad road.
He said that for over two years commuters have preferred to take the Omagwa International Airport-Elele-Omerelu road close to the Imo State boundary dualised by Governor Amaechi’s administration, to avoid the death trap called East/West road.
Not long ago, Governor Ameachi and Godsday Orubebe, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, had a shouting match over the poor state of the East/West road.
Amaechi had said that if the Federal Government has refused to fix the road, state governors of the Niger Delta will take it over.
This drew the ire of the Federal Government which voiced its anger through Orubebe who boasted that Amaechi will be cut to size because he disrespects the president and thinks that as chairman of Governor’s Forum he is an alternate president.
The Rivers State Governor and Mrs Ibim Semenitari, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, are out of the country so there has not been an official statement on the auto crash. Angela Agabe, the spokesperson for the Rivers Police Command, confirmed the auto crash on the East/West road this morning after all relevant authorities declined to speak throughtout yesterday despite enquiries made
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