Bonny Road Expansion Project: Igonipolo Community Laments Environmental Degradation, Calls for Help

Igonipolo Community in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State has called out to the authorities to come to their aid as their environment is being destroyed due to random vehicular traffic and lack of drainage system in the area.

Some residents of the community told Kristina Reports on Monday, May 4, 2026 that they had to stop vehicles, particularly commercial motorcycles from making a detour through the community due to the road expansion project on the King William Dappa Pepple Road.

Youth Leader of the community, Tamunosa William-Jumbo said the detour by commercial motorcyclists not only damages the environment, causing erosion and flooding, but also endangers the lives of children in the community who use the open spaces for play and recreation.

“The challenge we have here is that these bikes have used here as their normal road, this our little entrance. So, we don’t have any good road here for them to pass because of the narrow space.”

“Secondly, we have kids in this our community. We don’t want a situation where one child will just come out to cross then something will happen. We experienced one accident here. Somebody was parking a vehicle which jammed another person and injured his leg. That’s what we are trying to avoid.”

“The incident that happened this morning is because of the road. We don’t want accidents in our community, so, we stopped the bikes from passing that place. That’s why the women came out.

He called on the relevant authorities to come to the aid of the community by taking urgent and drastic measures to checkmate the flooding and erosion, urging Evomec Global Services Limited to also provide alternative route for commuters who are affected by the road expansion project.

“We want them to plan their work well, especially, Evomec, to plan his work very well. We want government to help us. We don’t have drainage in this our community. If you watch well, if it rains for now, look at how this place is. Very messed up.”

“Water is entering people’s house. So, they should help us to do it. We need drainage and the road for them to do it well for us. We’ll be grateful if they do it for us.”

Another resident, Gift Allison lamented that the flooding in the community has adversely affected her business place as her customers have nowhere to sit and patronise her by buying her drinks, disclosing that in the past five months she has lost business revenue to the tune of over N3million, saying that she makes as much as N30,000 per day.  

“In terms of business, I have lost so much because of this problem. Like a day, I sell like N30k, but now, even N5,000, no way for me to sell, except my club people call me. I carry my drink, go there and sell. And this is since last year December.”

Still another resident, Charity Roland cried out to the government and companies to come to her aid as she no longer can sleep on her bed which has been drenched in flood waters, lamenting that even her household items have to be raised from the floor to avoid them getting damaged.

The road expansion project starts from the gate of the Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal (BOGT) connecting Shell Road with Mission Road and King William Dappa Pepple Road and terminating at the Coal Beach with spur off the major road through Court Road and culminating at the King Perekule Palace.

The project, which is being sponsored by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) and implemented by Evomec Global Services Limited (EGSL), is envisaged to have a transformative effect on the Bonny landscape, as well as make commuting more seamless for residents and visitors.

Kristina Reports team which has been monitoring the project’s progress and providing constant updates has been inundated with concerns by residents around the project areas over difficulty in accessing social amenities such as water and electricity.

Earlier on Monday, May 4, 2026, women of Igonipolo Community protested the imminent consequences of the take-off of Loop 2A of the project, regretting that theirs as well as Madupolo, Polo Nwator, Elesu, Dappa-Posie, Allison, Jack-Wilson Pepple, and several others will be locked in without access to other aspects of the town.

Though the Bonny Kingdom Development Committee (BKDC), the NLNG and Evomec promised at a one-day sensitization meeting held at Ibani-Se Hall that contingency arrangements would be made to obviate the challenges the start-up of Loop 2A would pose, visible action was yet to be seen on this.