Some women, under the aegis of Nigerian Women Morn, embarked
on peaceful protest on Thursday calling for an end to the “mindless killings
and abduction” of pupils by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, in the North East
region.
On the night of February 24, gunmen believed to be Boko
Haram insurgents attacked the town of Buni Yadi in Yobe State killing over 40
people including 29 pupils of the Federal Government College in the town.
The Buni Yadi attack came on the heels of the killing of
over 30 students at the College of Agriculture in the same state last
September.Protest 3
In Lagos, about 150 women clad in black marched, while
singing mournful and protest songs, from the premises of Lagos Television in
Agidingbi to the office of the Lagos Governor, Babatunde Fashola, in Alausa.
“We the Nigeria women are deeply concerned with the
escalating rate of violence in the North East,” a statement by the protesting
women read.
“We are particularly moved by the senseless killings of
innocent children in the Federal Government College, Yobe and the abduction of
25 girls from their schools in Boro. We commiserate with the families of the
slain children, women and men of Adamawa and Borno States and join in the
solidarity to say NO MORE! ENOUGH OF THE KILLINGS!”
The protesting women called on the government to do all it
can to stop the orgy of violence.
“We are here to today to prove a point and that point is
Nigerian women morn. We are deeply saddened. We are concerned; we are worried.
The colossal waste of lives, children are being killed; girls are abducted and
used as sex slaves. Just yesterday, elders were rounded up and were killed.
Killing has become a recurrent decimal and there comes a time in a nation when
women, all of us will rise up in unison and say Enough is enough and we are
saying stop the killings.
“We are here to say government must do enough. We must
agonise less and organise for change. Our security operatives must be proactive
and like we said adequate compensation the government must protect lives and property,”
said the President, Women Arise and
Campaign for Democracy (CD), Joe Odumakin.
“Formally we want to say that Nigerian women all over the
country irrespective of tribe, irrespective of race, from East West North and
South we have the same blood that flows in our veins and we are using this
occasion to call on those who are terrorising the land to sheath their swords.
We’ve had enough we want to stop tears, we want to stop the agony and we say,
Nigeria must survive,” she added.
The convener of Nigerian Women Morn, Laila St. Matthew
Daniel, also spoke of the reasons for the protest.
“This is a peaceful non-political, non-tribal protest. We
are calling on government to rise up and hear our cries and do something to
what is happening to our children, our women and our fathers because it’s not
just the children and that why we’ve come out. Women are the matrix of the
society; women are the core of the society.
“We just say stop the killing, stop the persecution, stop
the genocide. Let or children be because they’re the future of `Nigeria and
enough is enough. There comes a time when there is a trigger and the trigger is
now that you see all of us together. So we just say to the government, we are
tied of the killings, we are tired of the suffering, we are tired of the
bombing they should find a lasting solution to this problem,” she said.Protest
2
Another protester and Executive Director of Women Advocates,
Abiola Akiyode, also spoke on reasons for the protest.
“Women have come out to ask for peace and to say enough is
enough. All the killings must stop. We cannot continue waking up every morning
to hear of mass slaughtering. This is genocide. We don’t want to see this
anymore and that’s why we are here together to speak with one accord and say no
to all these.
“One of the things we are proposing is for a need for us to
have a national strategy to address it. It is obvious our security agencies
have not done enough, it is obvious the government has not done enough. We
cannot continue to die needlessly. These deaths are preventable,” she said.
The Lagos government delegation, which addressed the
protesting women, was led by the Head of Service, Josephine Williams; Special
Adviser to the Governor on Information and Strategy, Lateef Raji; and the
Commissioner for Information, Lateef Ibirogba.
“Your mission this morning is a very noble one. Honestly
everybody shares in this pain,” said Mrs. Williams.
“I’m a mother, a grandmother, so I know exactly where you’re
coming from and each time we hear of these killings you imagine how everybody
stays spellbound to their television and wondering when it would cease.
“Some people have lost husbands; some people have lost
wives. Some people have lost their children. Innocent people are being killed
and I can feel that pain that goes through each and every one of you. I just
want to say that women. Intelligence gathering entails information giving.
Unless information comes, sometimes intelligence gathering cannot be as
fruitful.”
