Protesting women, youths, and other citizens of Nasarawa state have vowed to continue their protest until their cry is heard despite harassment, intimidation, and threats to lives by the ruling APC government.
This is even as the ruling APC has accused the major opposition People’s Democratic Party PDP of encouraging political, ethnic, and religious crisis in Nasarawa state.
Speaking to Journalists at the PDP secretariat after the end of their protest, an 80-year-old woman who is actively participating in the protests, Mrs. Sarah Danjuma vowed that the protest will not be suspended until justice has been served.
“Majority of us gathered here are widows, aged women, youths and concerned citizens worried by the high level of political slavery. We did not cast our votes in the March 18 governorship election for Abdullahi Audu Sule but for David Emmanuel Ombugadu.
“Our protest is to demand the reversal of the Appeal court judgment. No political party is sponsoring us not even PDP. We are in the PDP secretariat in solidarity with our candidate whose mandate is being stolen”, Mrs Danjuma declared.
Self sponsorship
The over 80-year-old mother who announced that they have been tasking themselves to transport, feed, and provide for other contingencies denied insinuations that the People’s Democratic Party or any other parties had a hand in the protests in Nasarawa state
She called on the appellate court to do justice to the drama that took place at the popular ‘Gayam and ‘Chiroma wards in Lafia local government during the governorship election.
“How can anyone overlook the irregularities during the March 18 governorship election under the guise of technicalities in Gayam and Chiroma wards all in Lafia Local Government Area?
“The total number of accredited voters in Gayam ward according to INEC was about 13,000. Then in the result of that election, 33,000 votes were given to the APC alone by INEC. This is traumatizing and that is the point we are making.
“Secondly, in the Chiroma ward, the number of accredited voters according to records is 21,000, but INEC announced 59,000 votes solely for the APC. Who will know all these and just fold their hands in a democratic system? She queried.
“These and more are the discrepancies the court shielded and went ahead to nullify the tribunal victory of David Ombugadu that is traumatizing us as women in Nasarawa state.
“We know what it is costing us to wake up every day to occupy the highway but it is worth it because injustice is the greatest destroyer of any society.
“We take our lives in our hands every day ignoring the danger associated with the protest. Look at what the Nigerian Army did to us three days ago while on peaceful protests. If not for God’s mercy we would have been crushed to death.
“We have been called all kinds of names by the ruling APC that we are prostitutes. They said we were being paid to go nude. They said we were shameless and irresponsible.
“Nobody is sponsoring us, not even the PDP. Our children and relations give us money to transport to the venue of the protest. Sometimes we beg tricycle drivers to help us to the venue of the protest and some of them just show us pity and carry us free or collect less money from us.
“We are happy because we are paying the price of true justice. God is seeing our suffering and He will hear our prayers. We call on the president, who is born by a woman like us to to listen to our cry for justice. The judiciary must remember that they are the last hope we have.
“They should not collect money or anything from anybody and turn white to black in the name of technicalities. One day all of us will appear before the Almighty Supreme judgment of the highest God”.
The protesters appealed to Nigerians to stand up for justice, noting that the outcome of injustice is grave and devastating.
Emmanuel Ukoh
