Physically challenged persons barricade Govt House

By Austin Ogwuda
ASABA—SCORES of physically challenged persons barricaded the Government House gate as well as the front of the police headquarters in Asaba yesterday in protest against alleged negligence by the state government.
As a result  of their action, traffic was disrupted for several hours especially on the busy Okpanam road as motorists engaged in the early morning rush had to take alternative routes.

The protesters, some of them half naked, alleged that they were not well treated by the state government. They were later dispersed with minimum force by the police.

They had in the past similarly protested over the issue of welfare. Efforts to either get the State Commissioner for Women Affairs or the Public Relations officer in charge of the ministry proved abortive.

It will be recalled tha Delta State Government sometime in December said it had reserved five percent of vacancies in any recruitment exercise into the state’s public service for qualified physically challenged persons as part of the administration’s commitment to the welfare of persons in that category.

Deputy Governor, Professor Amos Utuama (SAN), stated this during  the 2009 International Day of Persons with Disabilities in Asaba.