Nigeria's oil rich state imposes curfew after protest

Nigeria's oil rich southern Rivers state authority has declared a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the state with effect from Monday, an official said on Tuesday.

The curfew would be effective from 7:00 p.m. local time to 6:00 a.m. local time and would subsist until further notice, George Feyii, the Secretary to the State Government, said in a statement reaching Xinhua in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

He said residents are by this announcement advised to observe the declaration of curfew during that period except for workers on essential duties.

Feyii said the curfew was aimed at forestalling any breakdown of law and order in the state and ensure protection of lives and property of the people following political party protest.

Trouble broke out in Port Harcourt on Monday morning when hundreds of protesting All Progressives Congress (APC) women clashed with policemen on their way to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office.

The women who were dressed in black were on a protest to the electoral body to register their grouse against the election conducted in Rivers State. Their mission was, however, cut short when they were teargassed and dispersed by the police.

Rivers state in the oil-producing Niger Delta is considered a key battleground for the presidential election, which is seen as the closest in the country's history.

Meanwhile, the commission has set up a three-member investigation committee to ascertain allegations of discrepancies in the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state. Endi