Prisca Mbaoma, the woman leader of Orji Autonomous Community in Owerri North Local Government Area, her husband, Mr. Joseph, and their children were allegedly unlawfully arrested and detained on false pretenses by Eze Innocent Opara, the community’s traditional ruler, on Thursday. The women protested.
Under the auspices of Orji Women Federated, over a thousand women in uniform claimed that the traditional ruler and other government officials had plotted to seize their ancestral Nkworji Market, which had been renovated during the administration of former governor Senator Rochas Okorocha and peacefully turned over to the women.
Additionally, they accused Eze Opara, Hon. Simeon Ebegbulem, the former Commissioner for Trade and Investment, members and leadership of the Imo State Amalgamated Market Traders Association (ISAMATA), and a market developer of demolishing the market in an attempt to reconstruct it as a contemporary marketplace with the intention of returning it to its original owners.
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Speaking, Lolo Stella Williams stated that since their ancestral market was the only one that catered to the needs of the entire community, the women had opposed any attempt to take away their market.
She claims that when the women learned that Eze Innocent Opara had chosen to sell the market outright rather than follow the previous agreement that the developer would turn over after the market was finished, they approached him.
During their demonstration on Thursday in Owerri, the Orji Women Federated, also known as Ndiom Orji, stated that they had come to alert Governor Hope Uzodimma and Police Commissioner CP Aboki Danjuma about the mistreatment, unlawful arrest, and wrongful imprisonment of police officers on false accusations.
Both the developer and the traditional ruler, Eze Innocent Opara, were contacted over the women’s accusations, but their phone numbers were disconnected.
In addition, Henry Okoye, the police spokesperson, was unresponsive to texts left for him and was unable to answer calls.
