As political tension in the oil-rich South-South state continues to rise, Siminalayi Fubara, the suspended governor of Rivers State, has blasted the Nigeria Police for their alleged oppression of peaceful protesters in some areas of the state and their high-handedness.
This came after women’s organisations staged two different demonstrations in Rivers State’s Ahoada East Local Government Area and Port Harcourt City Local Government Area to voice their disapproval of the state’s declaration of emergency.
The Ahoada East demonstrators demanded that Fubara be reinstated, while the Port Harcourt demonstrators supported the emergency rule.
Under the banner of Rivers Women Unite for Sim, a group of women demonstrated against the state’s emergency rule last Friday and called for Governor Siminalayi Fubara to be reinstated.
The majority-white women who participated in the most recent demonstration, which was organised by “Rivers Women for Peace and Good Governance,” claimed that the emergency rule was legitimate.
While announcing their support for President Bola Tinubu, they also denied being employed to promote emergency rule in the state.
At around 7.30 a.m. on Monday, the ladies assembled at the Garrison intersection, marched along Aba Road, and reached the well-known Isaac Park in Port Harcourt.
To emphasise their point, they chanted and held up posters with many inscriptions.
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read,” Emergency rule is Constitutional,” “Rivers women voted for you but you made us your slaves”, “ Investigate Fubara’s bloated contracts award”, “say no to dictatorship”, “Rivers women need peace in our state”, “we support Tinubu”, among others.
Led by the former commissioner for Social Welfare in the state, Mrs Inime Aguma, and others, the protesters claimed that the state of emergency had brought relative calm and peace to Rivers since the emergency regime.
Mrs Aguma, speaking to journalists after the rally, expressed support for the Sole Administrator of Rivers State Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas (retd.), saying his leadership has brought peace and good governance in the State.
She stated, “Gathered here are Rivers women who need peace in Rivers State. We are gathered here because of the anomalies in our system.
“We also thank the President for declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State. We are grateful and pleased with it and living well with it.
“We said this because our democratic structure was decimated, the House of Assembly was left comatose and there cannot be any democracy with only two arms of government working.
“We know the doctrine of separation of powers, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. For over two years, the legislature was clamped down; we have a big wound that needs to heal.
“The House of Assembly was burnt down because of rumours of impeachment and while that was going on, the assembly complex was demolished, the taxpayers’ money was spent; that is an aberration.”
She added, “Despite such an incident, there was no investigation. Recently, we heard the former Head of Service, Dr. George Nwaeke, mention some allegations against the former government. We want the police to follow up on such allegations.
“Let us not be emotional and sentimental about facts. We have not had a government in Rivers State.”
READ ALSO: Rivers magistrate resigns over sole administrator, calls system undemocratic
Meanwhile, the situation at the Ahoada protest did not go down well as security operatives fired tear gas at the women protesting against the emergency rule in Rivers State and the reinstatement of the suspended governor.
Around 200 protesters from Elleye and Engine communities in Ahoada East Local Government Area marched to condemn the appointment of a sole administrator in the state.
While the women from Ahoada were teargassed during their demonstration, members of the Women for Peace and Good Governance group, who held a rally in Port Harcourt in support of the emergency rule, carried out their activities peacefully without any interference.
As the pro-Fubara women marched and chanted solidarity songs, they held placards with various messages, even as security operatives, including police officers, attempted to stop their progress.
Some of the placards bore messages such as “Ibas leave us alone” and “Our democracy is threatened,” among others.
Our correspondent further observed that after the women refused to back down from the protest, security operatives, including the police, fired tear gas to disperse them, causing the protesters to flee in different directions.
READ ALSO: Rivers Crisis: Women Stage Pro-Emergency Rule Protest
A viral video that later surfaced online showed emotional scenes as some women were seen crying after inhaling the teargas. They insisted they wanted Governor Fubara reinstated to power.
An elderly woman without a brassiere was spotted in the video being supported by others who held her by the hand.
In the same footage, soldiers were seen attempting to disperse the crowd, pushing the women back and forcefully removing the banners and placards they were displaying.
One of the women said, “We are here to tell President Bola Tinubu that since he declared a state of emergency in Rivers State, it has not been easy. We, the women, are hungry; we are suffering and dying.
“Sim is our hope. We say bring back our Governor. We love him. We say no to emergency rule in Rivers State. We voted for Sim, not sole administrator. We don’t want a caretaker.
“Let the FCT Minister remain in Abuja and leave Sim alone.”
Soon after, three of the old ladies knelt on the ground and declared, “We want peace in Rivers State,” while the cry of “We want Fubara, we want Fubara” filled the air.
Jerry Omatsogunwa, the suspended governor’s special advisor on electronic media, responded to the twin protest by hailing the pro-Fubara protesters as democratic heroes.
Omatsogunwa, however, reprimanded the Port Harcourt women who supported the emergency rule and the appointment of a single administrator for the state.
Furthermore, he chastised the police for their unjust treatment of the protesters, using tear gas on one while shielding the other.
He stated, “First and foremost, I want to thank the women in Ahoada for standing and fighting for democracy. It is like the police have two standards for the same activity right now.
