- Safiu Kehinde
Protesters have on Wednesday stormed the Ministry of Works in Abuja, demanding the removal of Dave Umahi as the Minister.
The protesters, led by activists Peter Ukah, Mama Pee, and Flag Boy, had on arrival at the Ministry called out Umahi, accusing him of power abuse.
This is coming under heels of his alleged usage of the police in arresting and detaining a Nigerian businesswoman, Traceynither Ohiri, who accused him of owing her N205 million for the campaign materials she delivered during his tenure as Ebonyi state governor in 2014.
The scandal had escalated following a viral video of Traceynither’s clash with Umahi at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command.
The video recorded by human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, who challenged the Minister over the detention of the lady, had sparked public outrage with other activists stepping up in defence of Traceynither.
It had since escalated into demonstrations against Umahi while also unearthing other cases such as the minister’s demolition of WinHomes Real Estate properties as well as alleged involvement in the murder of the five NELAN Engineers in Ebonyi.
Video of the protest shared on X on Wednesday morning showed the protesters storming the Ministry with placards demanding the removal of Umahi.
Another clip captured the protesters with a coffin and a portrait of the Minister.
They were however denied access into the ministry by the security operatives stationed at the gate.
Meanwhile, Peter Ukah, in his address held that Umahi is a servant of the people and must not use his office to silence Nigerians, especially women.
He vowed that the citizens will not tolerate any form of oppression by his office.
“Umahi must know that he is the servant of the people, He should know that there will be no entertaining of oppression of citizens through the office of the minister.
“There have been ministers before Umahi and there will ministers after Umahi. Nigerian women have dignity and they must be protected.
“If a woman or a citizen complains of injustice, Umahi cannot use his office to silence.
“Nigerians will not tolerate this kind of irresponsibility and high handedness because it is a thing of shame that a man will call himself a minister and you can flippantly sit down and say if you want to collect the land, you will collect everything.” Ukah said.