Protesters block Mokwa-Bida highway over banditry
Angry protesters blocked the Mokwa-Bida highway in Niger State over claims of persistent banditry and the abduction of 15 residents, leaving hundreds of travellers stranded.
It was a harrowing tale of hardship for commuters on the ever-busy Mokwa-Bida highway as protesters blocked the highway over claims of persistent banditry. All entry points into Mokwa were blocked by the angry protesters. Many travellers had been stranded since Saturday night.
One of the protesters, Saliu Mohammed, claimed that suspected bandits recently abducted 15 residents of the community. He alleged that security agencies had not been able to rescue the victims. Mohammed vowed that the protest would be sustained until the victims were rescued.
A commuter heading to Abuja from Ilorin, Joy Amaechi, lamented that she had spent five hours at Mokwa with no solution in sight. She called for urgent government intervention to rescue the victims. A driver with a popular mass transit company, Henry Nwachuckwu, said he had arrived at Mokwa at about 7 am on Sunday. As at the time of filing this report at about 10.30 am, the protesters had yet to leave the highway.
The protest is a sign of the growing frustration with insecurity in Niger State. The abduction of residents and the inability of security agencies to rescue them have pushed communities to take matters into their own hands. The blockade of a major highway has caused significant disruption and will likely increase pressure on the government to act.
This echoes the 2021 protests over insecurity in the North-west, which also saw communities block highways. The mechanism then was different, but the result was the same: a government struggling to respond to security challenges.
The winners: none. The losers: the stranded travellers, who face delays; the residents of Mokwa, who live in fear; and the Nigerian government, which has failed to provide security.
Bottom Line: Protesters have blocked the Mokwa-Bida highway over banditry. The government is under pressure. The question is whether the victims will be rescued or the protest will continue.