The Women of Orji Autonomous Community in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State are protesting over the alleged illegal arrest, detention of their Woman Leader, Mrs. Prisca Mbaoma and her husband Mr. Joseph and their children on a trumped up charges by the Traditional Ruler Eze Innocent Opara and his cohorts.
The Women in their uniforms numbering over 1000 under the aegis of Orji Women Federated said that there ancestral Nkworji Market which was renovated by former government of Senator Rochas Okorocha regime and peacefully handed over to the women before the Traditional Ruler Eze Innocent Opara connived with the former Commissioner for Trade and investment Hon. Simeon Ebegbulem and Members and leadership of Imo State Amalgamated Market Traders Association ISAMATA introduced what they described as a criminal market Developer one, Eze-Elect Kelechi Igwe to destroy the market in a ploy to rebuild it into an ultramodern market stalls with a view to hand back to the original owners.
Speaking, Lolo Stella Williams, said that the women abi-nie-tio resisted such move to deprived the women their Fortunes because it was the only market serving the entire community.
According to her, Eze Innocent Opara convictions that the developer will hand over after the market is completed when he debunked the rumours on the accusations of his attempt to outright sales of the market which he openly denied.
She pointed out that, the issue got twisted, when the developer who was assured to hand over after completion of the project have started selling the newly constructed one Hundred and Ninety Eight shops at the whopping sum of 7 to 8 million Naira per each shop without giving the shops back to the original owners (Women) as earlier agreed.
She pointed out that all the attempts meant to correct the anomaly proves abortive as the traditional ruler and his cohorts vehemently refused to deal with the original shops owners which she said that the women rejections of the illegal taking over of the shops has resulted to crisis and intimidations and the current illegal arrest and detention of the Woman Leader Mrs Prisca Mbaoma and her family members in a Commando style by the alleged Members of Nigeria Police Force Imo State Command.
“We are members of Orji Women Federated, ( Ndiom Orji) and the reason why we came today been 7 March 2024, at Owerri Imo State Capital was to inform the governor Senator Hope Uzodimma and the police Commissioner Imo State Command CP Aboki Danjuma on the maltreatment, illegal arrest detention by the police on trumped up charges from the Orji Autonomous Community Traditional Ruler, Eze Innocent Opara and his cohorts in the government and also the self acclaimed Nkworji Market Developer who has indirectly cornered our business shops numbering over 198 stalls and was selling same to the highest bidder. Thereby depriving us our ancestral Nkworji Market. Our resistance lead to harassment, intimidation and illegal arrest of our own woman leader Mrs Prisca Mbaoma, her husband Mr Joseph Mbaoma and their children in the early hours of 7 March 2024, causing Orji Women to go on rampage and we will continue to protests or even go naked until the anomaly’s are corrected”.
“Governor Rochas Okorocha build the market and handed it over to us and now Senator Hope Uzodimma’s boys in contractions with our traditional ruler want to take it away by force by outrightly sales to highest bidder at the high cost of 7 to 8 million Naira”. Lolo Stella Williams said.
All attempt meant to get the developer to react before filling the report proves abortive and the Traditional Ruler Eze Innocent Opara phone number was not connecting while the action of Women attracted many individuals and some prominent persons from the community who stormed the Imo police Command in their large number to seek for the release of the arrested persons on bail.
