Edo Women Protest Over Rape, Kidnapping By Herdsmen

Hundreds of women Wednesday took to the streets in Uromi, the administrative headquarters of Esan north-east local government area of Edo state, to protest against alleged incessant raping and kidnapping of their people by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

The claimed as part of their grievances that they could no longer be allowed to go their farms for fear of either being raped, killed or kidnapped by unknown persons masquerading as herdsmen.

Further, they alleged that hoodlums had virtually taken over their farmlands apart from destroying their farm produce.

The protesting women trooped from Uromi town and neighboring villages, assembled in the city centre and barricaded all roads in and out of the city including Abuja – Benin expressway.

They later formed smaller groups and blocked major roads in the town, chanting solidarity songs, demanding that Fulani herdsmen must leave their communities.

Although the protest was peaceful, but it disrupted the free flow of traffic in the town.