Hundreds of people from more than 100 villages in Oyo State took to the streets on Monday to oppose changes to a big road scheme. They blocked key routes in Ibadan from around 10am, holding signs and banners as they walked from the end of the Ibadan-Ife road through busy spots like Idi-Ape to the state office in Agodi.
The crowd, from seven local areas including Ido, Lagelu, and Egbeda, fears the plan to widen the Ibadan Circular Road path will swallow up homes and farmland. They want leaders to stick to the old 150-metre line set years ago by a past governor, now a top traditional ruler. That early outline came during his time in charge, but work stalled after he lost his post in 2006.
Spokesman Akeem Olaiya told the marchers they just seek a fair hearing. “We follow the rules and this walk is calm. All we ask is for the state team to keep the first marked path as it stands,” he said. Group head Adeniyi Fasoye added that the push has nothing to do with politics. “We beg the governor to drop the extra stretch and leave things as they were planned at 150 metres.”
The stand-off jammed roads badly, leaving car users stuck for hours. It also shut the state office gates for a while, holding up folks with meetings or errands until the group wrapped up at the site.
No quick fix came from the protest, but locals keep calling on bosses to rethink the wider route and spare their neighbourhoods.
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