By Jane Uyi Orobosa
Women in their thousands have staged a massive protest in Benin city, the Edo State capital to decry and condemn what they described as the incessant Police harassment of Edo people in an uneven-handed manner as the polls draw near.
The protest is coming on the heels of the order by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun for the arraignment of the party supporters on trump up charges in a remote Magistrate Court in Abuja, it was learnt.
Following the loud outcry by Edo people over the indiscriminate arrest and unlawful detention of some members of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP in the state ahead of the September 21 governorship election, the IGP gave the orders for the arraignment of the party supporters.
Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, has expressly made it clear that he was not and all Edo people were not in support of the patently biased position of the Nigerian Police Force, acting in cahoot with the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state to intimidate and harass PDP members.
And that as a consequence, the party may not be able to sign the Peace Accord, if those arrested and unlawfully detained for over two months now in an Abuja dungeon and the Local Government Chairman just taken in gestapo manner three days ago, are not released or in the alternative, charged to court in the area of jurisdiction where the alleged offences were committed, which Benin City.
As at the time of filling this report, it could not be ascertained the very location of the Court or the specific charges for which they were being held.
Tension had escalated following the barely disguised partisanship manner in which the police had continued to harass PDP members in the state, amply justifying the boasting of APC chieftain dressed in spy police outfit that the party would unleash the federal government might on the state to win the election that is just nine days away.
