Traffic was brought to a halt in Ibadan on Monday as thousands of residents affected by the Ibadan Circular Road Corridor project took to the streets in protest.
The protesters, carrying placards and banners, gathered along the Ibadan–Ife road around 10 a.m., causing gridlock before marching through Idi-Ape to the Oyo State Secretariat in Agodi. Their arrival led to a temporary shutdown of the secretariat, as security operatives barred them from entering the premises.
One of the protesters, Akeem Olaiya, said the demonstration was peaceful and aimed at urging the government to maintain the 150 metres already marked for the project by former Governor Rashidi Ladoja, now the Olubadan of Ibadanland.
Group coordinator, Adeniyi Fasoye, stressed that the protest was non-political. “We are not politicians. We only want the government to stop extending the corridor beyond the 150 metres initially mapped out,” he said.
The Ibadan Circular Road project was first conceived under Ladoja’s administration but stalled following his 2006 impeachment. Current plans by Governor Seyi Makinde to expand the road corridor have drawn opposition from residents who say the move would displace more homes and affect over 100 communities across seven local governments, including Ido, Lagelu, Ona Ara, Akinyele, Oluyole, and Egbeda.
