The youths of Asarama in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, have shut down the ongoing construction of the Bodo-Bonny Road being executed by Julius Berge.
An indigene of the community identified as Rowland Ifiritam in a statement said the youths during a peaceful protest disclosed that they are against the “wrong naming” of the road which does not include their community, Asaramatoru.
His statement reads,
Youths of Asarama Kingdom in Andoni LGA, Rivers State in a peaceful protest shut down the ongoing construction of the Bodo – Bonny road project being executed by the constitution giant, Julius Berger Plc.
They are fighting: (1). The wrong naming of the road as “Bodo -Bonny Road”, instead of including the name of their community, “Asaramatoru” which plays host to over 13km out of a total of 37.9 km stretch of the road. They wanted the name of the road to be called: “Bodo – Asaramatoru- Bonny road”.
2. The deliberate, but wrong naming of the bridge crossing Asaramatoru River on the road project as “Opobo Channel Bridge” when the river that hosts the bridge isn’t “Opobo river” but actually “Asaramatoru” river. They insist that the bridge name must be changed to the aboriginal name of the river before the project would continue.
(3). They lamented that the name of the third bridge along the road was also wrongly called: “Nanabie Bridge”, when it ought to have been properly called “Emenochan Bridge” again being the aboriginal name of the river that the bridge crosses.
(4). They further claimed that since the commencement of the road project in 2018, Asarama, being the owner/host/impacted community of the road project has not been consulted concerning the Environment Impact Assessment and related issues.
(5). They stressed that they had totally been denied of employment and subcontract opportunities at the project area.
(6). They lamented that the design and construction of a flat bridge to block big sea vessels from navigating their rivers for business activities in 21st century was unacceptable to them, especially, when they were not consulted at all.
7). They pressed that the construction giant must enter into a community development agreement with Asarama. They cried out that they suspected some collaborations, conspiracy and foul plays between the construction giant and their neighbors, who actually wished to encroach and take over their ancestral heritage.
