Human and vehicular movement was brought to a standstill for several hours on Monday after residents of Idokpa Community in Aduduwawa shut down a major highway linking Benin, the Edo State capital, to other parts of the country.
The protest, sparked by weeks of power outage in the community, saw residents barricade the bypass, resulting in heavy traffic congestion and long delays.
Travellers heading to northern destinations were among those stranded, as the protesters insisted the road would remain blocked until government officials and media representatives arrived to address their concerns.
Speaking to The PUNCH, a resident identified as Doris said the prolonged blackout had severely affected businesses in the area and that the protest was meant to draw attention to their suffering.
She accused the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) of diverting electricity meant for Idokpa to a neighbouring community, noting that nearby areas continued to enjoy steady power supply.
“What is most painful is that the next community has constant electricity while we remain in darkness,” she said, calling on BEDC to immediately restore power.
Another resident, Gideon, said the blockade would not be lifted until senior government officials engaged with the community and their grievances received media attention.
A traveller, Hassan, who was on his way to Kaduna, lamented being stranded throughout the day, describing the timing of the protest as unfortunate and appealing to residents to reopen the road.
However, a BEDC official, who spoke by phone, denied any deliberate action, explaining that the outage was caused by a shortage of gas used for electricity generation.
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