Rivers Crisis: Youths Block East-West Road, Civil Servants Protest

The vital East-West Road at Mbiama on the border of Rivers and Bayelsa States was blocked on Tuesday by youths who said they were protesting against the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike, for allegedly maligning the Ijaw nation, and masterminding the impeachment of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
The youths sang anti-Wike songs and carried placards, “Wike Leave Fubara Alone.” “Allow Your Boys To Chop.” “Fubara: Eight Years.” The protests caused a serious traffic at the popular Tuesday market at Mbiama
Meanwhile, civil servants in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, have threatened to carry out mass protests over the refusal of the House of Assembly to receive the 2025 budget proposal from the governor.
A coalition of concerned civil servants and the Rivers Solidarity for Good Governance issued the threat in Port Harcourt and demanded that the legislature received the budget by Wednesday, March 19, 2025.
They described as “reckless inaction and obstruction of governance,” the antics of the legislators, which they said had left workers hopeless
Opu-Oyibo Lilly-West, who addressed a press briefing, said, “Your blatant disregard for the urgent needs of our state has placed critical contracts and salaries at risk. By choosing spectacle over service, you have endangered the future of our public institutions and betrayed the trust of every citizen who depends on a stable, functioning government.”
The coalition warned that failure to comply with their ultimatum would result in large-scale protests, emphasising that they would not tolerate any further delay or political maneuvering.
“The tide of resistance will be unstoppable,” the groups declared. “The collective might of the civil service and the distressed voices of our people will rise in defiant protest against this gross negligence. This is not a threat, it is a promise of action.”