Women Protest Flooding Of Homes, Block East-West Road

Women from Alesa, a community along the East-West road in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State on Friday blocked the road to protest the flooding of their homes by storm water diverted from the road by the contractors handling the reconstruction of the road, Reynolds Construction Company Limited (RCC).
The women, who sang lamentation songs, called on President Bola Tinubu and Governor Siminalayi Fubara to intervene for them. They said they had lost valuable household belongings to the flood, while many of the houses could collapse with the flooding.
One of the women, Madam Yeye Alale, said that they were shocked that morning when the flood water, which used to flow into the nearby Onura Forest, started flowing into their homes. “Even as we moved our properties on the beds and tables to avoid being soaked the water kept coming in.”
She said the contractor handling the reconstruction of the road blocked the old drainage that took water away from the community and had not constructed another drain to divert the flood water.
The blockage of the road by the women caused serious holdup that kept tricks, tankers and transit vehicles waiting for many hours. The holdup stretched for several kilometers.
The women refused to leave the road even after security operatives asked them to leave. It was not until the Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the local government, Chief Brain Gokpa, intervened that the women left. But that was not after the contractors had mobilized some equipment to open up some blocked drains that redirected water to the Onura Forest.
The reconstruction of the Eleme section of the East West road had been causing serious situations for motorists and travelers along that road. Late in April, more than eight persons were killed and about a hundred vehicles destroyed when a truck conveying fertilizer from Indorama Complex collided with a tanker conveying petrol and ignited a wildfire.