Residents of Burutu Local Government Area (LGA) in Delta State, Nigeria, staged a protest demanding basic public services after council chairman Julius Takeme failed to provide essential amenities. Demonstrators seized the chairman’s official speedboat as a means of pressuring the council to act.
The protesters said they will maintain the demonstration until their demands are met, citing a “deplorable” state of the LGA’s only government hospital and the broader neglect of infrastructure at the council headquarters.
According to the demonstrators, the hospital lacks doctors, nurses and essential drugs, leading to daily deaths in the community. They also highlighted the absence of potable water, electricity and other basic services at the council headquarters, despite “billions” of naira reportedly allocated to Burutu LGA.
“There are no doctors, no nurses and no drugs. People are dying daily in Burutu because we don’t have a functional hospital,” a resident said.
“We have received billions, yet Burutu town has no light, no water, no hospital. Our villages are even better than the headquarters,” another demonstrator added, declaring, “We will not back down until the needful is done. We need doctors, nurses, drugs and water for our people.”
The residents appealed to the Delta State Government for urgent intervention to avert further breakdown of law and order. Attempts to obtain a comment from the chairman’s office were unsuccessful; an aide indicated that Chairman Takeme may be awaiting a directive from Governor Sheriff Oborevwori.
<small>Source: Daily Post Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
