Actress and film producer Stephanie Linus is partnering with the Abia State Government on her film on the Aba Women’s Riot.
Singer and senior special assistant to the governor on tourism and entertainment Martins Justice, popularly known as J. Martins, announced the partnership on his X account on Friday.
J. Martins wrote, “In honour of our heroines in the famous Aba Women Riot 1929. My office in Partnership with Nigerian actress & film director @StephanieLinus will be producing a movie in this regard while The Best Gov In Nigeria, His Excellency @alexottiofr will immortalise them.
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The partnership aligns with a 2023 announcement by Stephanie in which she revealed the film will be titled When Women Were Counted.
Writing in an Instagram post the actress said, “Hey Amazonian and Warlords,👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾
“When Women Were Counted- A film project by Stephanie Linus #upcomingproject.
“Working on this movie since 2018 has been a spiritual awakening of some sort for me and my team.
“It’s been six years, and I am glad to announce that we are ready!
“Working with some of the best minds (a historian and my writer) to put this together has been a very emotional journey.
There’s a lot to tell about the women of that era – our fore-mothers. The ones whose voices were not diminished, they did not hide under patriarchy, they were communal, brave, outspoken, unashamed – and they fought for what they believed in.
“Sisterhood started in 1920s. A bond so strong even Europeans with guns acknowledged that women cannot be silenced.
“This is our story: When Women Were Counted.”
The film is written by a team that includes Stephanie, Ibe Gerald Oluchi and Joy Isi Bewaji.
The Aba Women’s Riot of 1929, also known as the Women’s War, was a major anti-colonial uprising led by women in southeastern Nigeria during the British colonial period. It began over opposition to taxation policies imposed on women and expanded into wider resistance against colonial rule and the warrant chief system.
Historical records note that the protests spread across several communities in present-day Abia, Imo, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states. The crackdown by colonial authorities led to the deaths of many protesters, with estimates ranging from several dozen to over a hundred.
The movement is widely regarded as one of the most significant women-led resistance efforts in colonial West Africa and remains an important part of Nigeria’s historical and political memory.
