Hundreds of women defied heavy rain in
Abuja on Wednesday to protest the abduction of schoolgirls from the
Government Girls’ Secondary School in Chibok, Borno State at the
National Assembly.
The women, who were led by a former
Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, were received by the Senate
President, David Mark; the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu
Tambuwal; the Deputy Speaker House, Emeka Ihedioha , and other
lawmakers .
The obviously traumatised women,
including the parents of the kidnapped pupils, appealed to the
government and the military to ensure the safe release of the girls.
They also urged the legislators to do
something urgently as they could no longer bear the trauma that the
young girls were passing through.
Ezekwesili, who reminded the government
at all levels that their primary goals included the welfare and
security of citizens, said the trauma the girls were passing through
“had become intolerable.”
She added, “Government and security
agencies should wake up from their slumber and get back those girls
because we are tired of their flimsy excuses.”
But Mark assured the grieving women that the hearts of all well-meaning Nigerians were with them .
He said, “The senators and members of
the House of Representatives wept over this abduction when we were
discussing it in our separate chambers on Tuesday.
“ We have reached an unbearable stage .
We can no longer tolerate this. We are drenched. Totally soaked in the
rain. It is better to be beaten by the rain and get our children freed
from their captors.
“If it means standing in the rain until
the girls are freed we are prepared to do so. We are lost for words. We
can only apologise that it is taking this long to get these girls
released.
“We are not going to rest until the last
of the girls is freed. All the security apparatus , all of us must
get involved in this battle.
“There is no mistaken the fact that we are in a state of war. With God on our side, we shall triumph over evil”.
Also in Ibadan, Oyo State, women groups held a protest walk in solidarity with the parents of the abducted girls.
The women, who wore torn clothes, wept
while walking round the city with placards with inscriptions like
“Rescue our girls now’, ‘Enough of abduction’, ‘No to Boko Haram’,
‘Federal Government what are you doing.
At the headquarters of the state Police
Command in Eleiyele, the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Indabbawa,
sympathised with them and prayed for the safe release of the girls.
The President of the National Council
for Women Societies, Oyo State branch, Princess Adetona, urged the
Federal Government to hasten its effort at finding the girls.
She said, “We call for the urgent and
complete end to the politisation of the nation’s security and for the
security agencies to secure the lives of the most vulnerable and most
precious resources.
“These young girls are our daughters,
sisters, nieces and as Nigerians we join them in their anguish and
distress. We want them back, safe in their homes where they belong. The
longer it takes to find them, the slimmer the chances of finding them.”
Meanwhile, Governor Kashim Shettima of
Borno State has denounced the claim by Boko Haram that it was
fighting a holy war.
Shettima said that during a holy war, women were usually protected.
The governor said this at the swearing-in of a new Grand Khadi and two permanent secretaries in Maiduguri on Wednesday.
He said, “In Islam, a woman is supposed
to be treated as gold. Islam requires that a man should be the one to
prepare meals and serve a woman. When a woman chooses to cook, she
should be paid for cooking that meal unless she doesn’t want to be
paid.
“We are all heartbroken at this time
in our dear state because as we speak, over 200 daughters of Borno are
being detained somewhere by our fellow men who claim to be devoted
Muslims , whereas Allah who created all of us has mandated us to protect
women, to support them, to serve them with special attention and to
even spare them during Islamic holy wars that the Boko Haram claims to
be fighting.”
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