Gov Oborevwori’s Aide Narrates Ordeal: How Kwale Youths Turn Protest to Criminal Siege on Ughelli-Asaba Expressway, Attack Vehicles

Palmer Ogheneyole Nathaniel, an aide to Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State, has narrated his experience, on Monday, along the busy Ughelli-Asaba Expressway as law enforcement and motorists faced a brutal display of lawlessness by youths from Kwale.

Contrary to initial reports suggesting a peaceful protest, eyewitness accounts revealed that what transpired was a coordinated act of criminality, not a legitimate protest.

According to Palmer, the incident involved organized mobs demanding money, extorting motorists, and setting up illegal checkpoints.

He disclosed that the youths, under the influence of drugs and alcohol, assaulted vehicles, shared hard drugs openly, and turned the highway into a scene reminiscent of urban warfare.

According to him, several vehicles were damaged, with some motorists injured, and multiple illegal toll gates were established demanding payments from passing vehicles.

The aide recounted how law enforcement arrived to restore order, but the youths responded with violence, attacking police and civilians alike.

The chaos forced some victims to abandon their vehicles and seek safety through perilous routes.

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Below is his full statement posted on his Facebook page:

“The Kwale criminality they called “protest”.

Yesterday was one of the darkest days in recent memory along the ever-busy Ughelli-Asaba Expressway, and sadly, the culprits were not armed robbers or unknown gunmen or Fulani herdsmen, but the very youths of Kwale, who chose the path of chaos over civility, criminality over dialogue.

First of all, I must express deep gratitude to all those who called, texted, and checked on me following my initial post. The concern and love shown were overwhelming. To those whose calls I couldn’t take, I sincerely apologize—it was a moment of distress no one should ever have to experience.

My ordeal began when my friend and brother, Hon. Jerry Obi, whom I called to discuss some pressing personal matters, complained to me that he was stranded in Kwale due to a supposed youth protest that had shut down the highway. I thought nothing of it initially. After all, protests are a constitutional right when conducted peacefully and for genuine reasons. I assumed the road would be cleared before my arrival and began my journey from Asaba, which usually takes about 40 minutes.

But what I met in Kwale was not a protest. It was not even close. It was a criminal siege; an organized assault on law-abiding Nigerians an act of pure bandictry and a slap in the face of civil society.

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There were no placards, no chants, no press presence—just angry mobs demanding money, extorting motorists, and spreading fear. Young men, stinking of alcohol and reeking of illicit drugs, mounted illegal checkpoints, armed not with demands but with threats, sticks, stones, and the audacity to believe they could hold an entire federal highway hostage.

I was accosted for not having a green leaf on my vehicle—a new and absurd criterion invented by these criminals. When I refused to pay for a withered pawpaw leaf handed to me, I was surrounded and forced to part with N1,000 just to avoid escalation. That was just the beginning.

What I witnessed for the next few hours could only be described as a scene from a drug-infested urban warfare film. Youths, drunk and high, violently coerced passersby to “join” the protest. Hard drugs were shared openly, and disorder reigned supreme.

At one point, the Honourable Commissioner for Youths narrowly escaped molestation, thanks to the intervention of Akhue, aide to Rt. Hon. Friday Osanebi. That such a high-profile figure could be manhandled tells you everything you need to know about the lawlessness that took over Kwale yesterday.

And just when the Police finally arrived and tried to restore some order, the so-called protesters turned into full-blown street terrorists. As we attempted to leave under police direction, these youths emerged from hiding like hyenas, attacking every vehicle in sight with heavy stones. I watched helplessly as car windows were shattered and innocent people, including women and children were injured. One man had to abandon his Camry after both windscreens were destroyed, as he rushed his bleeding wife away on a motorcycle.

Eventually, I had to be smuggled out through the pipelines—another death trap in itself, after my car has been thoroughlydamaged. Yet even there, the horror continued. Over five illegal toll gates were mounted by these hoodlums, demanding N5,000 from every vehicle to pass through a swampy, unmotorable route that damaged multiple vehicles.

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Let’s call this what it truly was—not a protest, but a coordinated display of criminality, cowardice, and disgrace. The youths of Kwale who participated in this lawlessness have brought shame not only upon themselves and households. They have betrayed the ideals of youth leadership, civility, and dialogue.

This is not how to demand government attention. This is not how to press home any demand. This is the behavior of bandits. And bandits should be treated as such.

I am calling on the Delta State Government, the Police, and relevant security agencies: if those criminals dare return to that road under any guise of protest, they should be treated with the full force of the law. No community or group of youths has the right to disrupt lives, destroy properties, and endanger the public in this manner.

Kwale is not a jungle. Nigeria is not a lawless country. Enough is enough.

To the responsible and peace-loving youths of Kwale and environs, now is the time to rise up and denounce this madness. Reclaim your name. Reclaim your dignity. Don’t let the reckless few destroy the future of many.

Yesterday was shameful. Let it never happen again.

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By Palmer Ogheneyole Nathaniel”

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