Polls: Nasarawa Youths Embark On Counter Protest Against PDP

Youths in their hundreds, on Monday, took to the streets of Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital in a counter protest over the outcome of the just-concluded governorship election in the state.

The youths under the aegis of Nasarawa State youth awareness for development initiative, said they are expressing their displeasure over the debasement of womanhood by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which “allegedly lured the women to the streets naked in protest over alleged malpractices during the last governorship poll.”

The protesters were made up of people of different faith and ethnic groups from across the 13 local government areas of the state.

The protest started from the popular Lafia roundabout and ended up at the All Progressives Congress (APC), office along Jos road.

They bear placards with inscriptions which include “Nasarawa mandate is not stolen”, “Nasarawa does not belong to a particular tribe, but all of us”, “We understand that you were paid to distract the peace of our beloved state” among others.

Our correspondent reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had declared Governor Abdullahi Sule as the winner of the poll, having secured majority of votes casted during the exercise.

However, the development had elicited protest by the main opposition PDP, with the women taking to the streets half naked.

The protest has continued despite an order by the state police command banning such action.

But the youths said the continuous protest by the women in nude in the holy month of Ramadan smacked of insensitivity to the teachings of Islam, which its adherents also participated in the said election.

Speaking through the organising secretary, Muhammad Ramalan who stood in for the chairman of the group, Malam Ibrahim Abdullahi Hassan, the youths said their protest would continue simultaneously across the state for one month.