Patience Jonathan Locks Down Abuja

Nigeria First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan locked down the entire Federal Capital Territory metropolis for the better part of Thursday morning with what she described as mass rally and carnival organized to take “stock of the gains recorded so far in the empowerment of Nigerian women and the quest for peace in the country”.

The rally and the carnival which was still on at the popular Eagles Square as at the time of writing this story, is organized by the National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) in collaboration with the office of the First Lady of the Federation.
The National President of the NCWS, Mrs. Nkechi Mba had told journalists four days ago that over 15,000 Nigerian women cutting across diverse socio-economic backgrounds will converge on Abuja today for the a mega rally which will be rounded off with equally glittering award ceremony later tonight.
However, it is believed that the programme was organized as part of the ongoing underground campaign for President Jonathan’s 2015 presidential ambition.

We observed that women started arriving Abuja for the carnival from their different states since yesterday night.
The women, dressed in wrappers with pictures of President Goodluck Jonathan converged on Eagles Square, Abuja this morning for the carnival.
The occasion was also being attended by some female members of President Jonathan’s cabinet, members of the National Assembly and other prominent women leaders.
Also, present and taking the salute of women as they marched past with their banners according to their states or groups, was the wife of the Vice President, Amina Sambo. However, the closure of the major road in front of the venue of the rally resulted in unprecedented traffic gridlock with many motorists stuck in the traffic for many hours.

We also gathered that many other roads were closed in other parts of the city.
There were also massive security deployments as soldiers and well armed policemen were posted to strategic areas of the Abuja metropolis.
Also, a police helicopter has been hovering around the city since the programme began in the morning.

August 15, 2013