News & Current Affairs

Nasarawa Women Defy Police Ban, Protest Re-election of Governor Sule

By Azeezat Okunlola | Mar 30, 2023
Many Nasarawa women have taken over the state capital of Lafia in an act of protest against the police prohibition on demonstrations over the state's handling of the governorship election on March 18.
 
On Sunday, Peoples Gazette reported that the police leadership in Nasarawa had banned peaceful protests under the pretext of preventing post-election rioting.
 
Nasarawa police spokesman Abdulrahman Nansel issued a statement on Sunday saying, "The Nasarawa State Police Command wishes to inform the general public that all forms of protest have been banned throughout the state. Therefore, all proposed protests under any guise are hereby prohibited." 
 
While INEC has declared Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governor of Nasarawa for a second term, demonstrators, largely members of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), fied the police to voice their disapproval of this decision.
 
The results of the governor's race on March 18 were certified by the Independent National Electoral Commission, and Governor Sule was declared the victor.
 
On Monday, women were seen all around the state capital breaking a police restriction on peaceful rallies to voice their displeasure with the outcome of the gubernatorial election that took place on March 18.
 
At the time this story was written, attempts to contact Abdulrahman Nansel, spokesman for the state police, were fruitless.
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