The Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO), on Sunday, berated the main opposition, the All Progressives Congress (APC), its Presidential Candidate, General Mohammadu Buhari and the Imo State governor, Chief Richard Okorocha, over the recent attacks on thousands of widows on the streets of Owerri.

The widows were allegedly attacked during their solidarity rally for President Goodluck Jonathan and the Minister of State for Education, Professor Viola Onwuliri, ahead of the general election.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja on Sunday, the Director of Media and Publicity of the campaign organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, called on the Inspector General of Police, Mr Suleman Abba, to investigate the attack on the women.

Chief Fani-Kayode, flanked by the Minister of State for Education, some of the brutalised women and their leaders, urged the Police boss to expedite action on the petition sent to him by the leaders of the widowed women associations.

He demanded for the immediate arrest of the masterminds of the barbaric act and prosecuted them in accordance with the law of the land while the IGP should also investigate the allegation of complicity of policemen in Imo State Command in the attacks said to be politically motivated and supervised by the agents of the state government.

Chief Fani-Kayode declared that both General Buhari and the Imo State governor, Okorocha should show remorse and condemn the act by the officials and agents of the state government who allegedly “superintended over the brutalisation of the harmless widows.

While stating that “Buhari and his friends in the APC must purge themselves of their obviously strong anti-women sentiments,” Chief Fani-Kayode gave them a time frame within which to make a public apology to the widows.

According to him, “if Buhari and the APC refuse to tender an unreserved apology to the widows of Imo State within a matter of days, then, we reserve the right to refer to them as a party of women beaters and haters who have no respect for the female gender and whose desire and intention is to enslave, brutalise and torment our women.”

“The truth is that only cowards, bullies and scallywags would unleash a group of violent and dangerous armed thugs against a group of defenceless, harmless and innocent widows. We know that the opposition party has a violent nature, but they should be able to draw the line by sparing women of their desperate fury,” he declared.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Education, Professor (Mrs) Viola Onwuliri, lamented the public assault unleashed on the widows by the agents of the Imo State government, saying that it was against their fundamental rights as contained in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

It will be recalled that women under the aegis of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Widows, on February 10, in a protest rally in Owerri, reportedly clashed with agents of the Imo State government in the course of their assembly.

Source: TRIBUNE