A huge crowd of women from Kogi State took to the streets on Saturday to protest what they described as the alleged persecution of the former governor of the state, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
They called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to call the EFCC to order, insisting that the former governor had done more than any governor of the state for the people since its creation.
The women, led by various community leaders and party faithfuls, converged on the state capital, Lokoja, to condemn what they also described as a “witch-hunt” by the EFCC.
They called on the President to urgently intervene in the matter by directing the EFCC to allow the courts to do their jobs.
They argued that with the actions of the EFCC on Wednesday, it was clear that the agency’s allegations against Bello were politically motivated and aimed at tarnishing his reputation, adding that they would not fold their arms and watch him lose his life.
“We stand with our leader, Yahaya Bello in this trying time. We believe he has been targeted unfairly and we demand justice. We won’t watch him lose his life,” one of the protesters, identified as Hajiya Halima Abass, said.
“The EFCC should focus on genuine cases of corruption, not political vendetta,” another protester, who simply identified herself as Mrs. Boluwaji, added.
The various women group leaders, who spoke in their local dialects – Igala, Ebira, Yoruba and others – urged the EFCC to be professional in its “handling of the case against the state leader, Alhaji Yahaya Bello.”
They chanted songs, saying that Kogi people were fearless people and reiterated that they would not stand by and continue watching what they called a show of shame, especially after the former governor had made himself available to EFCC.
They wondered why the EFCC refused to interrogate or detain him while he was in their office but rather went shooting at night at the Kogi Government Lodge to arrest a man who had voluntarily walked up to them earlier in the day.
“We Kogi people of Ebira descent cherish what our son, Yahaya Bello, did for us as governor. That is why we’re out on the streets to ask EFCC to leave him alone.
“We are not giving him out to anyone to crucify. He will come back to us hale and hearty,” one of the women leaders from Ebiraland, who simply identified herself as Hajiya Fatima, said.
“We, the Igala people from Kogi East, we are here because of our leader, Alhaji Yahaya Bello. He has never done anything bad to us. To those people that are looking to take him, please leave him alone. We have never seen the kind of his government before. He did well for the state,” another women leader who identified herself as Mrs. Deborah said.
