No fewer than 35 persons were killed in Abonnema, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, the women of the community alleged on Saturday.
The women, who embarked on a protest, led by Tonye Briggs-Oniyinde, alleged that the Presidential and National Assembly elections on February 23 saw the mass killing of people in the community.
The protesters, who marched round Abonnema town, warned that military personnel should not be deployed in the area for the Governorship and State Assembly elections on March 9.
Briggs-Oniyinde said bodies of the victims of the killings were still being recovered.
She said: “We are pained as mothers because of what the military personnel came here to do, which had never happened in this community.
“Over 35 of our children died during the elections.
“And today, we are out to beg our chiefs to tell us the way forward because this community is not known for violence.
“We are saying soldiers should not be posted here again for the next elections.
“We want the chiefs to tell us the way forward.”
The Amanyanabo of Abonnema, King Disrael Gbobo Bob-Manuel, who addressed the women, called for calm in the area.
The monarch said traditional rulers were making efforts towards ensuring peace.
Bob-Manuel said: “I want to ask you and all indigenes of Abonnema and Kalabari Kingdom to be strong because what we are facing is not ordinary.
“Even during the Nigerian civil war, we were here and we did not see this kind of thing.
“Be strong and by the grace of God, we will overcome.”
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