Protesting Ijaw youths shut down the Headquarters of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Eastern By-Pass in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Thursday morning.
The youths, under the aegis of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), numbering over 700, hoisted their Green-Red-Blue IYC in front of the commission’s secretariat, preventing entry of persons and vehicles.
The Assistant Secretary of IYC, Eastern Zone, Ibiso Harry, said the action followed the expiration of the deadline given to the Federal Government to constitute a substantive board for the NDDC.
Recall that members of the Ijaw Youths Council locked the office of the Niger Delta Development Commission in Bayelsa state on Tuesday over the federal government’s failure to constitute the agency’s board.
The youths, who staged a protest in Yenagoa, the state capital, also blocked some roads leading to the office.
The IYC had issued a one month ultimatum to the federal government to constitute a governing board for the NDDC.
The protest followed the expiration of the ultimatum yesterday. The Ijaw youths accused the Buhari administration of undue interference in failing to constitute the board.
