Peaceful Protest Turns Bloody, One Woman Shot, Others Injured

What began as a peaceful protest by some women had turned bloody, with one of the protesting women shot and many others sustaining injuries.

The protest was staged by women from Oteri-Ughelli in the Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State against alleged incessant harassment and extortion by policemen in the community.

.The peaceful protest however changed gear when operatives of the Delta State Police Command resorted to forceful dispersal of the protesters.

The woman had turned up in their number massing at the Police Area Command office in Ughelli.

Their grouse was alleged police harassment and they had inscriptions and placards to tell this.

READ ALSO: Lagosians, Mind Your Movement Henceforth, Because Police Has..

One placard read: “Police are making life difficult for our poor and innocent citizens”, and another, “Oteri-Ughell is a peaceful community with law-abiding citizens, stop making life difficult for us”.

A woman speaking all she knows about the fracas

One of the women, Mrs. Vivian Aphiare, who spoke with journalist, levelled allegations of unlawful arrest on the police, adding that even children have fallen victims of such arrests.

According to her, such victims of the police arrest had to part with between N150,000 and N200,000 to secure their freedom.

Well intentioned or not, things soon went out of hand, with security operatives allegedly releasing tear gas on the women.

Another woman, Harvest Ugbhwiako  spoke in the same direction, alleging that the police was making life difficult for them and their children.

READ ALSO: Trouble Brews At Igando Over Police, Tout Extortion Of Bus Drivers

According to them, the police used heavy teargas against the unarmed women and shot one middle-aged woman in the leg, severely beating others.

The protesters

Reports on the fracas indicate that some of the injured women were admitted and being treated at the General Hospital,

“The women from Oteri community were in peaceful protest to the palace of the Ovie (monarch) of Ughelli kingdom and the Area Commander to register their grievances”, said the President General of the community, Efe Peter, speaking on the matter.

Peter also wondered why the police should use live bullets on women on a peaceful protest, instead of finding another way of dealing with the matter.

The Eagle reports that the peaceful protest that later turned bloody connects with a similar incident last February 14, when protest rocked Ughelli..

READ ALSO: How Nigerian Police Shot My Cousin and Labelled Me A Robber – Kidnap Victim

Protesters from Ekiugbo community barricaded roads and bringing to a halt economic activities, over alleged harassment by police and local security agents in the local government.

“Police brutality is getting too much”, “Police in Ughelli are fighting the innocents instead of criminals”, “Too much of police illegal activities in the land”, were some of the inscriptions on some of their placards