• How Nasarawa mothers used their weapon to fight cause
From Abel Leonard, Lafia
It never happened before. That was why it was strange when scores of mothers staged an unusual protest in Nasarawa State. The demonstration actually began on March 19, 2023, after the result the gubernatorial election was declared.
Ever since, there has been no stopping them. The protest continued and charged until a few days ago. In their numbers, these women poured out into the streets and marched across the capital to protest the results of the governorship elections that returned Governor Abdullahi Sule.
The women dressed in black, day in and out later backed up their protests with prayers. But when the anticipated divine intervention did not come as quickly as they expected, they resorted to nakedness, reminiscent of the 1929 Aba Women Riot and the 1946 Abeokuta Women Revolt, which saw women come out naked in public to show their discontent and touch the conscience of the dead world. They cried, wailed and inscribed on placards, calling for the review and invalidation of the election victory of the governor while insisting that Dave Ombugadu won the polls and should be declared so.
They also petitioned INEC, but got little or no positive response from that quarters. Their spokesperson, Stella Oboshi, wondered how votes counted from just two wards, Gayam and Ciroma, Lafia Local Government, “could simply overturn a victory won in all other parts of the state by Ombugadu.” “In the days that followed, these protests morphed into a movement full of energy, with these mothers engaging the public in ways that elicited local and national attention,” said a source who pleaded anonymity.
When the Supreme Court eventually delivered its judgment on Friday, January 19, 2024, against Ombugadu, expectedly, the women returned to the streets. But this time around, what they got in return from the security agency was a different story. They were stopped.
One of the injured protesters, Grace John, said their experience in the hands of security personnel deployed to quench the riot was not funny. According to her, she was shot on her stomach while several others were manhandled.
The 58-year-old mother, recuperating at the hospital, told Daily Sun: “We were all expecting victory from the Supreme Court but it turned out against our expectations. In reaction, we had come out of the secretariat compound by the roadside and we went shouting. Suddenly the police arrived and started harassing and shouting at us.
“I didn’t know what happened. I saw myself on the floor, blood gushing out of my lower stomach, while above me I could faintly see people just running in confusion. The police were just beating them and shouting.
“Later on, I was assisted by some people. Honestly, I didn’t even know who they were or who took me to the police clinic. While at the clinic, I was taken to the theatre where I was operated upon.
“After the operation, I was in serious pain. So they referred me to Dalhatu Specialists Hospital, because they did not have the equipment to carry out further treatment on me.”
Her daughter, Janet, alleged that her mother was shot by the police who were deployed to disperse the protesting women at the PDP secretariat. She said the first doctor that operated on her removed the bullet from her stomach, but could not handle the other complications that resulted from the bullet inside her stomach and therefore, referred her to another hospital. She lauded the medical personnel at the police clinic, insisting that they did everything possible to save her mother’s life.
However, police denied shooting at any woman in the process of quelling the riot. It, however, confirmed that they arrested 38 women during the protest, accusing them of public disturbance over the Supreme Court judgment. The women were immediately charged to the Lafia Magistrate Court.
At the resumption of hearing on their bail application, their counsel relied on points of law to support his plea for the defendants bail while the counsel to the police implored the court to grant him a short date to reply in accordance to the provision of the law. The Chief Magistrate, Mohammad Abdullahi Lanze, adjourned the case, ordering police to produce them in court on the said date.
Coordinator, Community Initiative for Character Modeling and Entrepreneurship Development, Kefas Tiga, said: “It is unfortunate to have a situation whereby some breastfeeding mothers and sick women were remanded in custody despite an application for their bail by a legal counsel
“Other civil society groups should wake up to the challenges of these mothers by raising eyebrows to the issue of their fundamental human rights. These women who were arrested, not all of them were part of the protests that started from 19 March, 2023. These protests had all along been peaceful.”