The police officers, who were said to have been deployed to the market, allegedly shot canisters of teargas at the helpless women, to stop them from accessing the market.
Women from the community had last week taken a protest to the government house to complain to Governor Willie Obiano that a certain multi-billionaire from Ukpo was behind the forceful takeover of their land. An elder in the community, Mr Sylvester Nwafor, who spoke to our correspondent, said, “It is a shameful thing that the billionaire had to send policemen to chase our women away from our market. It is so bad to the extent that it makes us feel as if we do not have men in our community.
“At my age, I was even among the 14 people who were arrested by police on the order of this man, and we spent several days in prison. We are calling on Governor Obiano to please come to our aid.”