Busia/Danquah Ladies To Stage Naked Demonstration

The Northern Region Busia/Danquah Ladies club of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has threatened to march naked on the principal streets of Tamale to demand the release of five NPP activists in prison custody. The five; Habib, Yahuza, Imoro, Sayibu and Majeed were picked up by security personnel after a violent clash between National Democratic Congress and NPP supporters at the Tamale Central Market that resulted in one death. But the NPP women group say their arrest and detention since February 2009 was a calculated attempt to silence and intimidate members of the NPP in the region, adding that, the arrest and detention of the five NPP members contravene their human rights and freedoms. At a charged press conference in Tamale, the Busia/Danquah Ladies gave the Mills-led NDC government a 14-day ultimatum to fast track the release of the five or face the wrath of the �woman power�. �The president will see nakedness gargantualy unless our men are released,� they charged. The Secretary of the Busia/Danquah Ladies, Madam Mariam Tiyumba Adam said, the five NPP members have been detained in prison custody for three good years without charge and stressed that the group was determined to pursue all legal means including a series of naked demonstrations to press for the release of their men. She said persistent arbitrary arrest of NPP members by the mere pointing of fingers by NDC activists had the potential of worsening the security situation in the region. Madam Tiyumba said no amount of intimidation and unlawful arrests can deter the group from campaigning effectively to unseat the non-performing Atta Mills government. �We will continue to remain law abiding citizens in our democratic dispensation, but we wish to add that our high level of tolerance should not be misconstrued to mean our weakness�. She accused the three MPs in the Tamale Metropolis of manipulating the court and called on human rights activists and the international community to pursue the NDC government for the release of the NPP members since their arrest was political motivated.