Police Disrupt Widows’ Ceremony, Arrest Three Aides Of Anyanwu-Akeredolu

Officers from the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Imo State Police Command on Saturday interrupted a widows’ program and apprehended three aides of Dr. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, the former First Lady of Ondo State and Labour Party candidate for the House of Representatives election in 2027 for Owerri Federal Constituency.

The police entered the venue of the ceremony, located at Obiri Umu Njoku’s compound in Umuoma Nekede, Owerri West Local Government Area, at about 3:00PM and arrested the aides associated with the former first lady.

The individuals taken into custody include Chibuzo Anyanwu, Nwamara Eucharia (also known as Chim Chim), and Nonye Okafor.

The police personnel confiscated the telephone handsets of the aides before effecting their arrest.

Dr. Anyanwu-Akeredolu who was scheduled to address the widows and distribute empowerment items to the widows had not arrived at the venue when the police personnel invaded the place.

A resident of Nekede informed our correspondent that the police accused the three aides of engaging in unlawful acts aimed at rigging the 2027 polls.

Upon being alerted of the development on telephone, Dr. Anyanwu-Akeredolu quickly raced from Owerri to the Nekede Police Divisional Headquarters where the Divisional Police Officer DPO told her that the order to effect the arrest came from a higher authority.

The DPO added that the trio had been transported to the state Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), at Owerri.

The former first lady quickly rushed to the state Police Headquarters along with her other aides and two bus load of the widows who were at the meeting.
At the police headquarters, the arrested aides could not be found in any of the police cells necessitating a radio message being circulated to all police divisions in the state.

At this juncture, Dr Anyanwu-Akeredolu had to put a call across to the DPO Nekede who informed her that the arrested aides were being held at the Anti-Kidnapping Unit.

The Labour Party candidate dashed to the unit to confirm that the unit is truly holding the aides.

In an interview, Dr Anyanwu-Akeredolu expressed her determination to pursue the matter to its logical conclusion, asserting that no one could hinder her political aspirations.

She declared the development as a political witch hunt, wondering why her aides would be arrested for attending a widows’ ceremony which she was billed to address and distribute some empowerment items.

The LP candidate revealed that the police accused the widows of commencing campaign before the approved time by posting a flex banner carrying her inscription at the meeting venue.

In her own response, Mrs Dorathy Nwosu, Chairperson of Umuoma Nekede Widows Association condemned the arrest of the aides of the former first lady and the disruption of their meeting.

She regretted that their meeting was disrupted because of politics and urged politicians to desist from playing politics with bitterness.

At publication time, police authorities were yet to issue a statement or respond to inquiries on the arrest of the three aides.

Observers submit that the arrest further confirms the political intolerance that is fast gaining ground in the state.

On Tuesday last week, armed thugs invaded the venue of the meeting of members of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) in Owerri, destroying property like chairs and public address gadgets and inflicting injuries on attendees.

The invasion caused the meeting to end abruptly.

Again on Sunday, hoodlums invaded the secretariat complexes of the Young Progressive Party (YPP) and Action Peoples Party (APP) in Owerri and vandalized property belonging to the two opposition parties.
Each of the attacks was reportedly carried out by people suspected to be loyal to the All Progressives Congress (APC)