Edo APC Crisis: Tension as Youths Barricade Benin Airport, Set Burn-Fire in Protest

There was tension in Benin City as hundreds of youths believed to be members of the Edo State Chapter of the All Progressive Congress (APC) stormed the busy Airport Road in protest of the party’s lingering crisis, factionalisation and imposition of leadership on the people.

The angry youths blocked the two sides of Airport Road, setting burn-fire, thereby causing serious traffic logjam and panic in the state capital, while motorists sought alternative routes out of the area.

The protesting youths also set burn-fire around Golf Course, Akenzua junction and along Akenzua Road in Benin metropolis, thereby disrupting human and vehicular movement.

The youths, however, opened one side of the road to traffic when the representative of the Commissioner of Police, Danladi Isa, persuaded those who barricaded the main gate of Benin Airport to allow for free flow of traffic.

He had pleaded, “I am here because of you people. I heard there is a protest here. That is why the Commissioner of Police sent me to find out what the problem is. I am the Area Commander in-Charge of this area. Blocking of the high way is a criminal offence, we appeal to you to open the highway for people to pass. We have instructed the police not to arrest anyone.”

One of the protesters, Lucky Ehimen, who spoke with journalists, charged the National Chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to stop meddling in the state’s politics and concentrate on national issues.

“Oshiomhole should leave us alone in the state and allow us to live in peace as Governor Godwin Obaseki has performed excellently well and the youths in the State are happy with his performance and want him to continue in office. We will not allow any imposition of the leadership of the party in the state,” he said.