By Emma Ujah & Samuel Oyadongha
YENAGOA — Commuters plying the East-West Road, were, yesterday, stranded for about six hours as protesting former militants barricaded the Mbiama Bridge of the road over what they described as the insensitivity of the Federal Government to their plight and alleged exclusion from the amnesty progamme.

Meanwhile, a former militant leader, Mr Sobomabo Jackrich, has called on the Federal Government to provide him security or he would be forced to provide himself the much needed security in the face of intimidation by politicians in his Buguma Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Jackrich, also known as Egberipapa, who was the former leader of the defunct Niger Delta Peoples’ Liberation Force, said in an interview in Abuja, that he had to leave his country home in Buguma, following intelligence that his life was in danger.

According to the former militant leader, he had petitioned the National Security Adviser, the Inspector General of Police, the Presidential Amnesty Office with a view to persuading the Federal Government to provide security for him in his village.

“I have been peaceful in the community and I love staying in the community because I have a house that I built in the community. So instead of staying in Port Harcourt, I prefer staying in the community because I want my people to be seeing me and be courageus,” he said.

Meanwhile, the protesting youths in their hundreds were peaceful in their conduct. They were said to have stormed the area at about 6:00 a.m. and used a trailer to barricade the route leading to the bridge, thereby cutting off those coming from the Rivers and Bayelsa end of the busy highway.

The road which is one of the busiest in the Southern part of the country and the only highway, straddling the oil rich states of the Niger Delta, saw many commuters stranded for the better part of the morning.
As at press time,  the situation on road had improved as security operatives were said to have succeeded in removing the barricade mounted by the protesting youths.

The dislodgment of the protesters from the route, it was learnt, was made possible by the Commander of the Joint Task Force, Maj. Gen. Charles Omoregie, who personally led men of the command to the troubled spot, when information of the blockade got to him.

The JTF commander was said to have persuaded the protesters to vacate the federal highway, insisting that they should explore other constitutional means to express their grievances.

The ex-militants, it was learnt, chose to stage their protest at the Mbiama bridge head so as to make the desired impact of drawing national attention given the strategic location of the bridge as the only route for straddling the Niger Delta states.

Travellers coming from the Rivers and Bayelsa end of the road were stuck on getting to the Mbiama flank, a border town between Rivers and Bayelsa State. Some commuters had to make u_turn on noticing the chaotic traffic situation.

Others it was learnt abandoned the public transports in which they were travelling and walked the long distance across the barricaded spot, which only motorcyclists were able to access while the protest lasted.

The claim of alleged non inclusion in the amnesty programme by the protesters as well as demand that they be paid allowances could not be immediately ascertained from the Amnesty Office, but sources told Vanguard that the grievances of the youths is been looked into by the relevant authorities.

The soldiers deployed to monitor the situation and ensure the protesters did not take laws into their hands however succeeded in opening up the road and restored normalcy after commuters had lost about six hours in the gridlock.

Some commuters manage to walk the about two kilometer distance caused by the gridlock to pass through the barricaded spot.

The protest by the ex militants however turned out to be brisk business for the few available commercial vehicles on both end of the road as commuters who could not stand the situation were forced to charter such vehicles back to their destination at exorbitant cost.

Some of the stranded passengers paid between N800 and N1, 000 to get to Yenagoa as against the normal N150.

Coordinator of the Joint Media Campaign Centre JMCC, Lt. Col Timothy Antigha when contacted said the situation had been brought under control and the protesters dispersed.