The Niger State Police Command has arrested three women and 22 youths for leading the protest in Minna, claiming that the women-led other people to disrupt the peace of the state capital.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, the leader of the women, Aisha Jibrin mobilized other women and miscreants to block the Minna-Bida road and Kpakungun roundabout leading to disruption of law and order.
Abiodun said that the protesters had deliberately refused to clear the road for public use despite the presence of Police patrol teams led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, DCP Shehu Umar Didango, and the presence of the Deputy Governor of Niger State, Comrade Yakubu Garba.
The PPRO further said that despite these personalities, the protesters turned deaf ears and chose to be violent leading the police to adopt minimum force to disperse the protesters.
He said: “The Police adopted minimum force to disperse the protesters who turned violent by attacking the Police with dangerous weapons such as stones, bottles, sticks, cutlasses and damaged Police patrol vehicles and parts of the Kpakungu Division roof.
“In the course of this, the Police arrested the initiator of the protest, one Aisha Jibrin aged 30 years, Fatima Aliyu aged 57 years, Fatima Isyaku aged 43 years all of Soje ‘A’ of Kpakungu area of Minna, and twenty-two other miscreants with the following dangerous weapons; a bench and a stick used as a barricade, three knives, one scissors, one cutlass, one saw blade, one iron pipe, four other sticks, two wraps of Indian hemp and charms.”
The Initiator of the protest, Aisha Jibrin while defending herself said that her actions were not illegal as she believed that the plight of the hardship they are going through should be heard.
She said that she never intended it to be a violent protest as she informed one youth leader whom she called Hassan in the community who was given the task to inform the Police about their plan to protest adding that she did not know that he did not inform the police.
Jibrin defended herself saying that there is too much hunger in the land for the people to keep quiet about.
However, the Police have declared Aisha’s mobilization of over 100 women and youths whom they called miscreants to block the highway for the protest was illegal
The PPRO said that all suspects were taken to the State CID for investigation after which they will be charged to court for prosecution adding that effort is ongoing to arrest other identified members of the violent protest.
In a related development, the Niger State House of Assembly directed the state government to provide palliatives to the most vulnerable members of society to forestall future protests which may be hijacked.
The legislators noted that the women protested against the high cost of living in the society and inadequate response from the government compelled them to block the main roads to draw the attention of the government.
