By Emamuzo Iboma
Women from Agan community, a suburb of Makurdi in Benue State, on Friday blocked the Makurdi/Lafia Highway in large numbers to protest what they described as the indiscriminate arrest of their children in the area.
The women, who took to the road as early as 6 a.m., expressed anger over the continued arrests by security operatives, accusing them of targeting innocent youths while ignoring criminal and terrorist herders operating in the state.
One of the protesters, who identified herself simply as Nguyan, said there had been a surge in the arrest of young people in the community in recent days. She claimed that security personnel had stormed the area and arrested several youths without providing any justification.
Reacting to the protest, the Benue State Police Command warned against actions capable of disrupting its ongoing clearing operations across the state. The Commissioner of Police, CP Ifeanyi Emenari, through a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Udeme Edet, urged the public to support the command by providing useful information that could aid its operations.
