… Warns Of Rising Insecurity, Economic Stagnation The people of Abavo Kingdom in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State have renewed their appeal to the Federal Gov-ernment to urgently complete the aban-doned dualisation of the Agbor-Amuk-pe stretch of the Uromi-Amukpe Road. They described the project’s decade-long abandonment as both a serious security threat and a major impediment to eco-nomic progress. Speaking at a press briefing in Abavo on Friday, the President General of the Abavo Clan Union, Mr. Justine Onyeibe, decried the project’s neglect. He recalled that the contract was awarded in 2014 but abandoned after initial mobilisation, leaving the once-strategic highway in de-plorable condition. According to him, the road has become a nightmare for motorists and farmers alike. “The condition of this road is more than an inconvenience; it has become a breeding ground for crime,” Onyeibe lamented. “The terrible potholes slow vehicles to a crawl, making passengers easy targets for kidnappers and other criminals.” Beyond security risks, the abandoned project has crippled local commerce, particularly agriculture, which is the mainstay of Abavo’s economy. Onyeibe noted that farmers can no longer move produce such as yam, cassava, plantain, tomatoes, and vegetables to markets in Warri, Benin, Lagos, and beyond. Large volumes of perishable crops, he said, are left to rot by the roadside, discouraging youth from farming and shutting down opportunities for trade. “This road has effectively strangled our economy. It has discouraged investors and made our young people see farming as a trap instead of a path to prosperity,” he stated. “With a completed dual car-riageway, our produce would get to mar-kets in hours, not days. New businesses, processing plants, packaging factories, and other enterprises, would naturally spring up here, creating jobs and pros-perity for Abavo.” Onyeibe further emphasised that com-pleting the road would also ease access to healthcare and education while boost-ing tourism. He pointed out that cultur-al events such as the New Yam Festival, Igue, and Ikaba could draw large numbers of visitors if the community were more accessible. Calling the road project “a covenant with the people of Abavo,” he urged both the Federal and Delta State governments to see its completion as a priority. He equally appealed to contractors to return to site without delay and tasked the me-dia with keeping the issue in the national spotlight until the project is delivered. “We are not just asking for concrete and asphalt,” Onyeibe concluded. “We are demanding a future where the wealth of our soil is not wasted but harnessed, transported, and multiplied for the ben-efit of our people.”