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A total of 114 women were last Friday arrested in Owerri Imo state for protesting and demanding to know the whereabouts of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Kanu has not been seen in public since IPOB clashed with soldiers in Abia, last year.
The women who went out to protest were reportedly picked close to Warehouse junction in Owerri, after attempts by the policemen to disperse them with teargas failed.
Global condemnation has greeted the arrest especially after the women were driven to court in a truck and later remanded in prison.
According to TheCable, Andrew Enwerem, spokesman of the Imo state police command, refused to state the offence of the protesters.
Asked why the police picked them up, he replied : “Go to Owerri prison, you are a reporter. Go to the prison and find out.”
Told that prison authorities directed the reporter back to the police, Enwerem said: “I am the police spokesperson and not an investigator. If you ask me, I will say yes, some women were arrested, I don’t know their count charge.”
A lot of Nigerians and groups, home and abroad, have been calling for the women’s release, saying it was a clampdown on the fundamental rights of citizens.
Igbo Ekunie Initiative, a socio-cultural Igbo organisation, described it as “cowardly” and “primitive”.
“These innocent and unarmed women were within their rights under the Nigerian constitution, engaging in a peaceful demonstration and protest over the continued disappearance of Nnamdi Kanu,” the group said on Wednesday.
The Igbo Canadian Community Association (ICCA/Umunna) described the ugly treatment of the women as a deliberate affront on Ndigbo and a recipe for anarchy.
In a statement issued in Toronto, Canada, the president of the group, Chief Ugochukwu Okoro, through the Public Relations Officer (PRO) Mr. Ahaoma Kanu, said: “ICCA/Umunna wants to sound a warning that with the gross show of abhorrent and execrate behavior in which President Muhammadu Buhari’s led Federal Government responds to issues involving Ndigbo is becoming too brutal for our endurance and if not stemmed at this moment, may pave the way for anarchy.
“The ICCA/Umunna hereby demand the immediate and unconditional release of the 114 IPOB women members remanded in prison custody on the orders of Magistrate S.K. Kadurumba.”
The group listed the names and ages of the women who have now been tagged “Mothers of the Nation”. They are:
1. Afoma Umoh Wisdom (64yrs)
2. Virginia Akwufube (62yrs)
3. Ezike Emmanuela (62yrs)
4. Uzoma Oraka (62yrs)
5. Charity Obioha (60yrs)
6. Chinyere Nwachukwu (55yrs)
7. Udeogu Margret (58yrs)
8. Rachel Okengwu (58yrs)
9. Angelina Felix (55yrs)
10. Monica Anaelechi (54yrs)
11. Esther Osuji (52yrs)
12. Florence Olewembu (52yrs)
13. Nkechi Ekwedisika (52yrs)
14. Kosarachukwu Udegbunam (51yrs)
15. Josephine Ogolo (51yrs) Monica Nwaeleke (50yrs)
16. Mabel Okoire (50yrs)
17. Chika Njoku (50yrs)
18. Grace Nkemakolam (50yrs)
19. Paulina Awunezi (50yrs)
20. Christiana Muonwuba (50yrs)
21. Margret Eze (50yrs)
22. Florence Egede (50yrs)
23. Rose Osuchukwu (50yrs)
24. Comfort Uti (50yrs)
25. Nnedinma Onuoha (49yrs)
26. Agatha Nwachukwu (49yrs)
27. Ijeoma Okorie (30yrs)
28. Uloma Ejiogu (30yrs)
29. Victoria Jacob (45yrs)
30. Vivian Ozuruigbo (30yrs)
31. Chinenye Imo (40yrs)
32. Chinyere Egbulom (38yrs)
33. Cynthia Onyebuchi (31yrs),
34. Chigbata Chinyere (38yrs)
35. Egesi Josephine (41yrs)
36. Hope Eze (45yrs)
37. Ikejiofor Amechi (44yrs)
38. Nkeiru Ajagba (45yrs)
39. Ngozi James (46yrs)
40. Nnene Nweke (46yrs)
41. Lucy Mary Kanu (21yrs)
42. Irole Goodness (30yrs)
43. Ogechi Okechukwu (30yrs)
44. Tochukwu Eze (38yrs)
45. Onyemaechi Ijezie (38yrs)
46. Ginika Awuzie (39yrs)
47. Vero Nnamani (30yrs)
48. Nkwoagu Chinenye (22)
49. Ijeoma Victoria Nnadozie (43yrs)
50. Blessing Udeme (25yrs)
51. Nnewuchi Obiageli (31yrs)
52. Ngozi Onyenwugo (22yrs)
53. Ruth Onwumere (45yrs)
54. Nkeiruka Ohanebo (45yrs)
55. Nzube Uwaigwe (22yrs)
56. Eberechi Iheanacho (39yrs)
57. Ego Nwafor (40yrs)
58. Chinyere Eze (32yrs)
59. Adaku Inyama (45yrs)
60. Ndidi Uchenna (45yrs)
61. Nneka Kingsley (38yrs)
62. Nkeiru Nwankwo (37yrs)
63. Chinwendu David (38yrs)
64. Juliet Nwaiwu (42yrs)
65. Juliet Innocent Onwuka (40yrs)
66. Chinyere Nwankwo (25yrs)
67. Nkeiru Orji (34yrs)
68. Joy Uwabunike (47yrs)
69. Nnene Ibeneli (38yrs)
70. Jane Isaac (25yrs)
71. Kelechi Emmanuel (40yrs)
72. Ngozi Nwajiaku (34yrs)
73. Ugochi Okwum (32yrs)
74. Ifeoma Emmanuel (42yrs)
75. Nkeiru Onyegbari (35yrs)
76. Eucharia Eke (42yrs)
77. Ijeoma Onyedinefu (33yrs)
78. Blessing Nnedede (26yrs)
79. Iheanyichukwu Ogueri (35yrs)
80. Ogochukwu Alaribe (35yrs)
81. Uchechukwu Okoro (48yrs)
82. Iheomachi Ejiaku (40yrs)
83. Uchchukwu Ahamuefula (32yrs)
84. Evelyn Usulo (38yrs)
85. Joy Chimezie (45yrs)
86. Precious Ogbonna (40yrs)
87. Obiageli Nwite (48yrs)
88. Ginika Ndibe (20yrs)
89. Chinelo Ugwueze (38yrs)
90. Nwachukwu Blessing (22yrs)
91. Rita Edet (29yrs)
92. Nnenna Okorie (36yrs)
93. Chinyere Eze (43yrs)
94. Iwuneme Bibian (45yrs),
95. Onuoha Ogechi (Age not stated)
96. Peculiar Nwachukwu (28yrs)
97. Felicia Ike (42yrs)
98. Obiageli Obumsolu (39yrs)
99. Ugonne Godwin (45yrs)
100. Kalunwoke Ekemiri (28yrs)
101. Nwauwa Cecelia (44yrs)
102. Igboka Ngozi, Angela Okeke, Blessing Aguama, Oguchim Chinedu and Mary Okorie(classified in their charge sheet as “adults” but possibly in their 70s).
Names of three young women including a sick patient and a pregnant woman who collapsed in the presence of Magistrate S.K. Kadurumba during their arraignment are not included in the above list.