A crowd of women have staged a protest against President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a State of Emergency in Rivers state.
They matched from Isaac Boro Park in Mile 1 to Garrison Junction along the Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway, causing obstruction of movement of the ever-busy road.
The protesters under the platform of Rivers Women Unite Prayer Group said the essence of the protest is to liberate Rivers from the state of emergency and restore the displaced democratic rule.
The protest, who were led by Dr. Nancy Chidi Nwankwo, Tamunobelema D. West and Cynthia Amadi, defied police barricades along to stop the peaceful procession.
The women in a prepared protest statement signed by Dr. Nancy Chidi Nwankwo, called on President Tinubu to urgently lift the emergency rule and restore the democratically elected governor of the State, Sir Siminialayi Fubara
Nwankwo said: “Women of Rivers, gathered for justice and democracy, and express total rejection of the state of emergency declared over our beloved state. This imposition is not driven by any genuine threat to national security but clearly a politically motivated manoeuvre aimed at subjugating our people and undermining our democracy.
“The overreach of the Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd) is a glaring indicator of the political conquest. His actions, which go far beyond the limited powers of a placeholder, betray the impartiality expected of his office and reveal the real intention behind this emergency rule, a calculated power grab under the guise of national interest.
“We find it utterly confounding that the federal authorities in Abuja, relying on conjecture and manufactured narratives, would choose to descend with full weight of force on Rivers State, deploying a sledgehammer to kill a fly, while ignoring the dire security emergencies ravaging states such as Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Kaduna, Plateau, and Benue.
“If the National Assembly’s intention was truly to prevent breakdown of law and order in Rivers, a state that has remained relatively peaceful and has recorded no fatal incident, why has it failed to take even more decisive action in states where chaos and bloodshed are daily occurrences?
“Rivers people, especially women, are outraged by what is fast becoming a dual system of laws in Nigeria, one for other states, and another, unjust and repressive, for Rivers. We reject this blatant political invasion and the imposition of emergency rule in its entirety.”
