Pro-Wike, Fubara’s Female Supporters Protest in Rives over Emergency Rule

. Magistrate voluntarily retires over state of emergency 

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

Some Rivers women  yesterday  protested in different locations of the state over the ongoing state of emergency in the state. This  is as a Chief Magistrate in the state judiciary, Ejike George, tendered his resignation from service, citing the unlawful appointment of a Sole Administrator to oversee the democratic affairs of the state.

THISDAY observed that some women staged a protest in Port Harcourt, the state capital, declaring that the emergency rule is constitutional, while another group of women, including widows, blocked the Mbiama section of the East West Road in Ahoada, demanding the reinstatement of Governor Siminalayi Fubara and an end to emergency rule in the state.

The women adorned in black attire and coming from the Orashi region staged a protest, calling for the reinstatement of the suspended Governor Fubara.

These widows came out in their numbers with placards saying: ‘Bring back our Sim’; “Widows are dying’; ‘Supreme Court says no to caretaker’; and others. They barricaded the Mbiama axis of the East West Road where some of them sitting on the ground half naked were seen crying.

Speaking in their dialect, they called on President Bola Tinubu to bring back Fubara as they lamented that some policies which involved provision for widows have been halted since the suspension. They decried that if it continues, the widows who are helpless, may die of hunger, starvation and frustration.

Similarly, another women group who adorned on white apparel, chanting songs mostly gospel relics, in their various placards stated: ‘Emergency rule is Constitutional;’ ‘Rivers women voted for you but you made us your slaves’; ‘Investigate Fubara’s bloated contracts award;’ ‘Say no to dictatorship’; ‘Rivers women need peace in our state’, among others.

The protesters were led by loyalist to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike and former Commissioner for Social Welfare, Inime Aguma, and among the cabinet members that resigned their appointments during the heat of the crisis between Fubara and Wike.

The protesters claimed that the State of Emergency has brought relative calm and peace to Rivers State since the emergency regime.

Aguma said: “Gathered here are Rivers women that need peace in the state. We are gathered here because of the anomalies in our system. We thanked the President for declaring State of Emergency in Rivers State. We are grateful and pleased with it and living well with it.

“We said this because our democratic structure was decimated, the house of assembly was left comatose and there cannot be any democracy with only two arms of government working. We know the doctrine of separation of powers, the executive, legislature and the judiciary.”

Aguma continued that: “For over two years, the legislature was clamped down, we have a big wound that needs to heal. The House of Assembly was burnt down because of rumour of impeachment while that was going on, the Assembly complex was demolished, the tax payer’s money was demolished, and that is an aberration.”

She said: “Despite such incident, there was no investigation. Recently, we have heard the former Head of service, Dr. George Nwaeke, so we want the police to follow up on such allegations. While asking if they agreed, some say they agreed while some screamed no”.

Meanwhile, residents have described the protesters as a total shame and ‘disgrace’ to womanhood. A resident, who refused to disclose his name, said: “It is a shame that protest has become an occupation in Rivers State where women are paid N5,000 to march on the streets over what they know nothing about.”

Another resident, said it was quite unfortunate for women to stoop so low against their conscience, adding: “If I see my mum among these women, I will chase her back but my mom can’t be seen doing such! Shameless women.”

However, a Chief Magistrate in the state judiciary, Ejike George, has tendered his resignation from service, citing the unlawful appointment of a Sole Administrator to oversee the political affairs of the state.

The magistrate, who disclosed that he has put in 16 years in the judiciary already, said the appointment of a sole administrator is tantamount to a ‘quasi-military administration’.

George’s resignation was contained in a letter dated April 11, 2025, and addressed to the Chief Judge of Rivers State through the Secretary of the Rivers State Judicial Service Commission.

The letter titled: ‘Voluntary Retirement from Service’, George expressed dismay over the direction of the governance of the state, which he said is “alien” and “antithetical” to the values of the legal profession.

“This is intended to convey my decision to voluntarily retire my appointment as Magistrate of the Judiciary of Rivers State. This difficult and regrettable decision is informed largely by my discomfort with the recent appointment of a quasi-military administration to run the affairs of a modern state like ours.

“Milord will agree with me that this type of governance system is not only alien but also runs antithetical to our hallowed profession as legal practitioners and adjudicators.

“Having put in a whopping 16 out of my 22 years of legal practice into this judiciary as a magistrate under successive democratic administrations, I find it difficult to work with the current setting, as doing so would amount to a tacit and naïve acquiescence,” he stated.