A group of Concerned Nigerians, under the auspice of Nigeria for Good Governance (NFGG), has charged the ruling party, All Progressives’ Congress (APC) to apologise to the market women in Lagos, who were coerced to stage a solidarity walk for the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In a release, signed by the chairman of the group, Mr Alaba Ogundele, and its secretary, Mrs Isaac Nnorom, the group stated that it was absolute dehumanization for Sen. Tinubu’s daughter and head of market, Mrs Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, to threaten the women, stating that their shops would be taken away from them if they failed to join the march.
Recall that women from all parts of Lagos marched round major parts of the state to show their support for the former governor of Lagos and APC’s presidential candidate yesterday, Monday, October 3, 2022.
Stating that the action was against the fundamental human rights of the women, the group advised the ruling party to desist from forcefully dragging people into unnecessary political drama, against their will, in a bid to feign support.
Condemning the action in strong terms, the group, despite acknowledging that N5,000 was given to each of the women after the march, stated that such forceful order for closure of shops, due to the march, rendered the “money or whatsoever that is given to the women worthless”, as people should be allowed to support a candidate or political party out of their own volition.
The group further added that some of the women earn up to N20,000 daily, and as such, the quarter of their daily income, given to them after such order, was not in any way commensurate with the appropriate compensation they deserved.