Women in Agan community near Makurdi, Benue State, on Friday took to the streets to protest the continued arrest of their sons by security agents.
The protest followed recent reports of police operations in the area, which the women claimed had led to indiscriminate arrests of young people.
One of the protesters, who gave her name as Nguyan, said the arrests had caused fear and pain in the community. She said, “Many of our children had been arrested in the past few days. Security men would just swoop on this community arresting our youths.”
The protests came days after two men from Kano State were reportedly killed by some youths in Agan while on their way to the eastern part of the country.
Following the incident, the Benue State Government confirmed that five suspects had been arrested in connection with the killings. The governor, Hyacinth Alia, made this known through his Chief Press Secretary, Kula Tersoo.
Responding to Friday’s protest, the Benue State Police Command warned residents against actions that could disrupt their ongoing security operations across the state.
The command’s spokesperson, DSP Udeme Edet, said in a statement that the police were working hard to clear out criminals and restore peace in places like Apa, Guma, Gwer-West, and Sankera.
He said, “Assembling people for protests at this time is distracting the police from engaging criminals as logistic attention will shift to the protection of protesters, thereby creating room for criminality to continue thriving.”
The police said protests could also be hijacked by criminals and used to create more unrest.
The command urged residents to report useful information to help their work and avoid gatherings that could put lives at risk or slow down security efforts.
