A huge number of Kogi women, led by various community leaders and party faithful, converged on the streets of the state capital, Lokoja, to protest against what they described as the witch-haunting of former governor of the state, Yahaya Bello, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
They insisted that the anti-graft agency must be cautioned by President Bola Tinubu, arguing that what Bello did for the state while he was the governor was more than any governor of the state for the people since its creation.
They want the president to direct the EFCC to allow the courts to do their jobs, claiming that the actions of the EFCC make it clear that the agency’s allegations against Bello were politically calculated to tarnish his reputation.
Hajiya Halima Abass, protester, said, “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."
Another protester insisted that “The EFCC should focus on genuine cases of corruption, not political vendetta.”
“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.
One of the women leaders from Ebiraland, who simply identified herself as Hajiya Fatima, said, “We are not giving him out to anyone to crucify. He will come back to us hale and hearty.”
“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.
Other women groups, 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.
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