Benue Women Block Highway, Demand Release Of Husbands, Sons

Women from Agan community of North Bank in Makurdi local government area of Benue State yesterday took to the streets in protest against rising insecurity and demanded the release of their husbands and sons.

Hundreds of the protesting women carrying green leaves and chanting solidarity songs blocked the busy federal highway at the Agan toll gate, disrupting traffic for several hours were demanding an end to what they called “unjust harassment” of their husbands and sons.

This came as the district head of Agan, Chief Zaki Agbaka who confirmed the arrests to our correspondent, said between Thursday and Friday, four farmers were killed by armed herders in separate attacks without any arrest.

According to him, two farmers who were spreading herbicides on their farms and two women were killed by armed herders yesterday and security agencies were not going after them arrest, but were instead arresting innocent children.

“The security agencies come here at night, knock on the door and arrest any young person they see, anyone that refuses to open the door they would break it and force their way into the house and arrest any young person, what kind of impunity is that?

“I am tired of burying my community members everyday, we held a meeting with security agencies and other stakeholders today and they promised to release all the people they arrested, and that is my demand,” he said.

According to him, since the killing of two Kano persons  in Benue, different security agencies have been going there to arrest children for reasons they don’t know every night.

One of the protesters who identified herself as Lydia lamented that security operatives were arresting their husbands and young male children in droves without any crime, while doing little to protect the communities from the ongoing attacks by armed herdsmen who are killing them daily.

She said in a day, over 40 innocent young boys were arrested in North Bank area.

“We were living in fear of armed herdsmen, and now also in fear of security forces who we thought were here to protect us, we have taken to the streets today to demand the immediate release of our children and husbands,” she said.

They called on the government and security authorities to stop targeting civilians and instead focus on protecting residents from herders.

Efforts to speak with the police public relations officer, Udeme Edet were futile as her number was not connecting.