The 114 Biafra women that were remanded in Owerri Prison would undergo pregnancy test, according to investigation by Vanguard yesterday.

Prior to their arraignment at the Magistrate court in Owerri, many feared that some of the women who were tear-gassed and reportedly bullied during their peaceful protest in Owerri by the police before being arrested could be pregnant.

Recall that one of the women arrested for protesting over the whereabouts of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, could not stand the pains at the Magistrate court as she was rushed out of the court environment. She was said to have fainted and bled profusely. The woman is said to be pregnant.

On this development, Vanguard sought to know if the Owerri Prison Authority has any plan to ascertain the actual number of women that are pregnant in the prison.

According to the Public Relations Officer, PRO, Imo State Command of Nigeria Prison Service, DSP James Madugba, “By Friday, everything about their documentation and admission must have been completed. The normal visit will commence on Friday.

“We know that their numbers are much but within this period, we have a medical unit and they will also run a pregnancy test on them. We have to do it because of this rumour of getting impregnated while in prison. If after the pregnancy test and there is anybody pregnant, then the clinic unit will take care of the person.”

Remand of pro-Biafra women, judicial rascality—IPOB

Meanwhile, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday condemned what it described as “the ongoing judicial charade, rascality of the Magistrates Court sitting in Owerri, Imo State which ordered the detention of Igbo women suspected to be pro-Biafra activists, for demanding the whereabouts of their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and his parents..

IPOB in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful, said: “ The federal and Imo state governments’ silence over the arrest of the women confirms their collaboration in the alleged heinous act of incarceration of the innocent and harmless women. This has shown their treacherous nature and ambivalence to the suffering of Biafrans in general and Igbos in particular.

“We equally note with particular concern, the silence of some supposed human rights groups in Nigeria. We are aware that IPOB related cases always showcase the very worst in Nigerian judicial practice. The level of ignorance and disregard for simple rules of a properly constituted court of law presently on show in Imo State lends further credence to our assertion that a significant proportion of Magistrates and Judges are ignorant of the laws of Nigeria and rules governing their conduct.

“By allowing the detention of mothers, wives and sisters that pose no discernible threat to the state, the All Progressives Congress, APC government represented by Rochas Okorocha in Imo, Igbo politicians in Abuja, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Igbo governors and countless other fronts, are showing they are in the pocket of Arewa North.

“They have shown that they are weak, compromised and incapable of speaking out against blatant injustice against their own people.”

•Excerpted from aVanguard report

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