On Monday, May 6, 2024, the Ughelli Area Command of Delta State was the scene of a chaotic and violent clash between policemen and women who were peacefully protesting against alleged extortion in the area. The situation quickly spiraled out of control when police officers fired upon the protesters, resulting in multiple injuries and sending several women to the hospital.
It was gathered that hundreds of women from the community had taken to the streets in a peaceful protest to demand justice. However, their peaceful demonstration was met with a violent and unwarranted response from the men and officers of the area command, who unleashed a brutal force against the protesters. It is reported that the women were repulsed, attacked, tear-gassed, and even shot at, resulting in injuries and a desperate rush to seek medical attention.
Two persons who spoke to the media on behalf of the protesters, Harvest Ugbhwiako and Mrs. Vivian Aphiare, alleged that the police had been detaining the children and wards of the protesters without cause or due process, using this as a means of extortion. They claimed that the police demanded exorbitant amounts of money, ranging from 150,000 to 200,000 naira, before the detainees were finally released on bail.
At the emergency ward of the Ughelli General Hospital, where the injured women were rushed for treatment, Efe Erakpofoke Peter, President General of the community, expressed his vehement condemnation of the police’s unjustified and violent response to the protest. According to Peter, the women from the Oteri community had been peacefully demonstrating against the police’s alleged extortion and illegal detention of their children when they were viciously assaulted by the police officers. He emphasized that the protest was a legitimate expression of the community’s grievances, which the police had no right to suppress through violent means.
More details shortly…