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On Friday, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Women Professional Council announced its support for Sen. Bola Tinubu, Gov. Bello Matawalle, and all APC candidates running in the general elections of 2023.

Dr. Barira Ibrahim, the group’s Zamfara Coordinator, made the announcement while speaking to a massive audience of APC women organizations at a rally in Gusau.

According to reports, thousands of women participated in the demonstration that lasted from the Gusau Women’s Center to the Gusau Government House.

The organization planned the gathering with the theme “Tidying up and Sweeping Zamfara from Top to Bottom” to show their support for the candidacies of Tinubu, Matawalle, and all other APC candidates in the state.

Dr. Ibrahim pointed out that women’s participation in elections has a long history in the state.

“Therefore, we must declare support for candidates with good plans for women.

“All women in Zamfara, we all agree that we must participate in politics to realise our dreams in politics.

“In 2023, we are are going to deliver similar votes to APC as we delivered 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019”, she added.

“Zamfara is already home of APC, therefore, no seat should be left to the opposition parties.

“As state Coordinator, I am happy to announce that we are going to mobilize and ensure that all women in our localities vote for all APC candidates.

“No seat should be left to the opposition parties in the upcoming 2023 general elections”, she explained.

“I am using this medium to commend Gov. Matawalle for his kind gesture to the activities of the council in Zamfara.

“On behalf of the APC Women Professional Council, Zamfara Chapter, we also appreciate His Excellency for considering women in appointing them in to various positions under his administration,” she added.

Chidinma Ojukwu, the alleged killer of the Chief Executive Officer, of Super TV, Usifo Ataga, has told a Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square that she was slapped and forced to sign statements written by policemen in the state.

Chidinma, who testified in her trial-within-trial as defense witness one, on Thursday, told Justice Yetunde Adesanya that policemen including Assistant Superintendent of Police, Olusegun Bamidele, and Olufunke Madeyinlo, told her to sign statements against her will.

She said Bamidele told her to narrate the statement he wrote to the state Commissioner of Police after tearing the statement she wrote.

Chidinma is standing trial over the alleged murder of Ataga. She is also charged with stealing and forgery alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, and one Adedapo Quadri.

Addressing the court on Thursday, Chidinma, while being led in evidence in the trial-within-trial by her counsel, Onwunka Egwu, told the court that on June 23, 2021, she was in her room at home when her 10-year-old sister informed her that some men were asking after her.

The witness said, “Immediately, my sister called my Dad (her foster father, Onoh Ojukwu), who came out and asked who the men were. They said they were policemen from Panti and that they came to arrest me and search the house or that I should go in and bring the (Ataga’s) phone.

“I said I don’t know where the phone and car are and one of the policemen slapped me. My dad said you cannot slap my daughter in my house and the policemen tried to enter the room from the passage.”

Chidinma said when the policemen were taking her away, she told her foster dad to call the family lawyer, Egwu, adding that when they got to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, she was taken to the office of a policeman, Razak Oseni, who, alongside other policemen, questioned her.

She said, “We went back to my house and then returned to the DCP’s office and he started questioning me. I told him I don’t know anything about the death of Mr Ataga, and that was when they made the video that was played in court.

“The DCP said I should make my statement then the IPO, Bamidele, took me to the interrogating room with Mr Chris, and gave me a blank statement form and asked me to write what happened.

“I started writing, then he (Bamidele) took my left hand and handcuffed it to the chair. I wrote what I said at the DCP’s office. While writing the statement, Bamidele read through it and said it was not what happened.”

Chidinma said she told Bamidele that she was writing what happened, adding that before she started writing the statement, she informed him to help her confirm if her foster father had called the family lawyer.

She said, “He (Bamidele) said my (foster) dad cannot make a call as he was in custody. That was when I started writing the statement. When he said the statement I wrote was not what happened, and I told him it was what happened, I received two slaps from Mr Jemiyo.

“Jemiyo and Chris sat at the back and Bamidele was facing me. He said you are going to write the truth, tore the statement I wrote, and presented another blank statement form. I told him I was writing the truth and you tore it.

“He said if I did not comply, my family, my dad, 10-year-old sister, and relative will be charged in the murder case. He (Bamidele) brought out his phone, played the video obtained from the scene of the apartment, and showed me pictures of Mr Ataga’s body.

“He said now you are going to write and then I started writing. He said why I am slow and I received another slap on my back. I told him that I was not feeling well and needed to rest.

He (Bamidele) said there was no time, he then collected the statement form from me and he started writing. Chris then handcuffed my hands to the chair.”

Chidinma said Bamidele initially asked her questions but later stopped, adding that after he was done writing, he read the statement to her and she said what he wrote was not what happened.

She said, “He said this is what you are going to say or else my family will be charged. He read the statement to me again and told me that I should rehearse it. He said that is what I should tell the CP.

“Bamidele and Chris returned in the morning and said I should sign the statement but as I was reluctant in signing it, Chris said I should because nobody is coming for me and that they will provide me with a good government lawyer.

“After signing the statement, I was brought out of the interrogation room, given water to wash my face, and then we entered a vehicle and drove to Ikeja. When we arrived at Ikeja, Bamidele took me to the CP and I said what Bamidele wrote.”

She said after her interrogation at the CP’s office, she was taken downstairs, where she saw a lot of people (journalists) with cameras, adding that she was not feeling well then.

Chidinma said, “After I was taken to the press, then we drove back to Panti where Bamidele said we are going to do a video recording, and he said I should say everything he had written in the statement and they recorded the video which was played here in court.

“I was returned to the cell; in the evening on the same June 24, Oseni brought me out of the cell, and took me to an office, where Madeyinlo and another female officer Bola were. When Oseni left, I was given a blank statement form and I was told to write another statement.

“Jemiyo also walked in and I said I had already written a statement. I said I am tired and had not eaten. I was just sitting when Jemiyo came beside me and hit my head on a wooden table. This was when officer Bola had left.

“Madeyinlo said I should start writing. I picked the pen, wrote the date, and my name, then she (Madeyinlo) started dictating to me and said that I should write what she said. I started writing and at the end of writing the statement, she asked me to sign.”