Women suspected to be members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) staged a protest on Tuesday in Owerri, Imo State capital south-east Nigeria, on the takeover of the Imo Women Development Centre for President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to hold a town hall meeting with traditional rulers in the state.
The protesting women who defied the plea by all the security chiefs in the state, remained adamant as they obstructed free flow of traffic leading to the venue of the town hall meeting, chanting pro Rochas Okorocha songs and anti PDP slogans.
The leader of the Imo women group, Mrs Josephine Udoji, said in an interview with Channels Television that over 3,000 women, drawn from across the 27 Local Government Areas (LGA) of the state, had been billed for a training at the centre on the conduct and role of women in the 2015 general elections.
She noted that their hopes were cut short by security operatives who prevented them from gaining access to the venue.
She also said that the centre has been under lock and key for the past five days by security operatives for no obvious reasons.
The group leader also added that they were surprised that same venue had been opened by same security operatives for President Jonathan’s visit, alleging that they have continued to harass them in their state.
Meanwhile, after much persuasion which yielded no result, security operatives had to disperse the women by tear gas before the arrival of the Nigerian President.
