Mitte Drags FG To Court Over East-West Road

The deplorable state and continued neglect of the Eleme–Onne section of the East-West Road in Rivers State is now a subject of litigation at the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt.
The immediate past President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Mr. Ledum Mitee said he was suing the Federal Government for gross neglect, violation of his fundamental human rights, and the attendant carnage on the road.
In a five paragraph affidavit pursuant to Order II, Rules I and 3 of the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009 and sections 40, 41 (1) and 42 (1) (B) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mitee, sued the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs on behalf of himself and the indigenes, residents and communities of Eleme, Ogoni, Okrika, Ogu/Bolo, Opobo, Andoni and Akwa Ibom State, including other commuters of the Port Harcourt–Onne Junction section of the East-West Road.
Mitee filed the motion on notice for an order for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights in Suit No: FHC/PH/FHR/158/2017, dated August 18, 2017.
According to Mitee, who is also a human and environmental rights activist, the action and or inaction of the Federal Government in failing to reconstruct or put the affected area of the East-West Road in good condition violated his constitutional rights to freedoms of movement and association.
The former MOSOP president insisted that the death trap which the Eleme–Onne Junction section of the East-West Road has been turned into was occasioned by the insufficient provision of resources by the Federal Government to complete the section of the road and the imbalance in allocation and disbursement of funds and resources by the concerned agencies of government across the country for similar road projects.
He said that such actions further violated his constitutional right to freedom from discrimination.
Mitee, therefore, demanded that the Federal Government be directed forthwith to complete or fund the completion of the axis of the East-West Road from Onne Junction on Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway by providing adequate funds and resources to effectively repair, fix and put to good commutable state the collapsed parts of the Eleme–Onne Junction section of the East-West Road.
The United Nations adopted defender of human rights argued that the Federal Government’s action accounts for, among others, the fact that he can no longer practise his profession in the courts in Eleme and Bori, all in Rivers State due to the sorry state of the portion of the road leading to loss of income.
He also alleged that because of the situation, he could no longer travel to his village to associate with his family members and attend to their needs.
Mitee further alleged that the condition of the road has led to incessant motor accidents, which have claimed scores of lives.
“Allocating and providing more funds to similar projects in other parts of the country and making very meagre and hopeless inadequate allocation of fund and providing no disbursement for the completion of the Eleme–Onne Junction section of the East-West Road amounts to discrimination which is an infringement of my fundamental rights”, Mitee further contended.