Enugu residents protest decades of neglect and threaten to boycott the 2027 election.

Youths from the Umabor Eha‑Alumonah community in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State staged a protest, claiming that successive governments have neglected the area for decades and threatening to boycott political campaigns ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The demonstrators highlighted the poor condition of local infrastructure, including roads, schools and health facilities, and expressed frustration that the community has received little or no government intervention despite its consistent support for successive administrations.

They also raised concerns about insecurity, alleging frequent attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen and linking the violence to the deplorable state of access roads.

According to the youths, politicians often make promises during election campaigns but fail to deliver once in office.

Some residents posted on social media, calling for urgent government action.

One resident, Utonwa Michael, urged the Enugu State Government to rehabilitate existing schools in the community, noting that the distance between some villages and the state’s Smart Schools limits access to quality education for many children.

He said many pupils were unable to benefit from the facilities due to challenges related to distance, transportation and safety.

“This is the current state of our primary and secondary schools as of this morning, 16th June 2026,” Michael said. “While we appreciate the government for the Smart School Project and its commitment to improving education, we passionately appeal to them to come to our rescue. The distance between some of our villages and the Smart Schools is too far, thereby denying many of our sons and daughters access to quality and accessible education. As a result, many children are unable to benefit from these facilities due to the challenges of distance, transportation, and safety. We respectfully call on the government to address this situation by rehabilitating existing schools within our communities and ensuring that every child, regardless of where they live, has access to quality education close to home. Education is a fundamental right, and we believe that no child should be disadvantaged simply because of where they reside.”

Another community member, Christian Nnaemeka, expressed concern over the condition of roads and schools, stating that residents had continued to fulfil their civic responsibilities during elections but often felt neglected afterwards.

He said the people were increasingly dissatisfied with the lack of visible development in critical sectors such as education, road infrastructure and security.

“The current state of roads and schools in Umabor, Nsukka LGA, is not encouraging at all,” Nnaemeka wrote. “As a community, we come out in large numbers during elections and faithfully perform our civic responsibilities. Unfortunately, after elections, it often feels as though Umabor is forgotten. Our roads are in poor condition, many of our schools need serious attention, and security remains a growing concern. These are basic necessities that every community deserves. This time, our message is clear: leadership must be accompanied by tangible results. We will continue to demand good governance, quality education, improved security, and better road infrastructure for our people. Umabor deserves better.”

In response, the spokesperson of the Umabor Unity Forum, Comrade Emmanuel Uzoh Ugwueze, described the state of public infrastructure in the community as alarming.

Ugwueze said previous appeals to successive governments had yielded little result, adding that the community had suffered prolonged neglect.

He noted that public facilities in the area required urgent intervention and called on Governor Peter Mbah to address the community’s concerns.

According to him, the poor condition of the Agu‑Umabor Road has contributed to the security challenges facing residents.

He appealed to the governor to respond to the community’s demands and provide the needed infrastructure and security improvements.

“We are so pained as a community over the level of deterioration of public infrastructure in our area. I recall that even under previous governments, we cried out for intervention, but nothing came out of it. Umabor community has suffered neglect so much, and it is affecting all the public infrastructures in our place. All the public facilities in our community are in a sorrowful state, and demand emergency intervention. Apart from the bad state of the schools and other facilities in our area, the bad state of Agu‑Umabor Road is contributing to the insecurity we are experiencing along that axis. We are again passionately pleading with His Excellency, the Governor of Enugu State, Barr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, to hear our cry,” Ugwueze stated.