Ijaw youths protest appointment of sole administrator for NDDC, block East-West road

Angry Ijaw youths on Monday blocked the East-West Road to protest the appointment of Effiong Okon-Akwa as Sole Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

President Muhammadu Buhari had on December 12 appointed Okon-Akwa, who is the acting Executive Director, Finance, and Administration in NDDC, as the commission’s interim administrator.

The development provoked anger among stakeholders and youths from the region who demanded the setting up of a substantive management board for the NDDC.

The protesters massed at the strategic Mbiama-Yenagoa junction of the federal highway in the early hours of Monday and blocked the two lanes on the roads.

.The aggrieved youths chanted war songs and carried placards with the inscriptions such as “Akpabio focus on your ministry and leave NDDC alone,” “Ijaw youths demand a substantive board for NDDC,” and “Say no to the appointment of administrator for NDDC.”

The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) also accused the Minister of Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, of pocketing the region and playing politics with the commission.

The body alleged that the minister was undermining the region’s development for selfish gains.

The Spokesman of IYC, Comrade Ebilade Ekerefe, who led the protests, said: “Niger Delta is not your personal estate; you cannot pocket a region. We say no to the appointment of a sole administrator. Sole administrator is alien to NDDC act.”