..From Dele Ogunyemi, Ibadan…
A group of women protesters in Ibadan on Wednesday under the aegis of Oyo State Concerned Women’s Group, has called on all stakeholders to urgently put an end to the politicization of insecurity in Nigeria.
Led by Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, the women protesters who decried in strong terms the abduction of over 200 young female students of Government Girls Secondary School ,Chibok, Borno State, charged the authorities to do everything humanly possible to bring back all the girls alive.
The protest which took the women group to the State Secretariat Complex, Agodi, Ibadan was aptly tagged “Bring back our girls and end abduction of women and girls in Nigeria”.
At the Oyo State Governor’s office, the protesters handed over a letter to the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Ismail Alli, who stood in for Governor Isiaq Abiola Ajimobi for onward delivery to the Federal Government.
Speaking on behalf of the women protesters who had trekked from Dugbe to the Police Command Headquarters, Eleyele to Mokola and then to the State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, Mrs Anyanwu-Akeredolu lamented that they resorted to the option because “the lives of our children are at stake.”
She said: “As mothers, fathers and siblings, we call for the urgent and complete end to the politicization of the insecurity in Nigeria and for the security agencies to secure the lives of our most vulnerable and most precious resource.”
The women group also wondered why the Federal Government has “failed to beef up security around children in schools in the North East, even after the devastation and pain on the 59 innocent children murdered in Federal Government College, Buniyadi, on February 25, 2014,” among several others that would have forestall the unfortunate experience.”
They urged the federal Government and security agencies not to be detered from rescuing the girls, despite the poor handling of information. The group therefore demanded that the stakeholders worked “tirelessly to find these girls where they are being held captive and return them to their families safely.”
The Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Ali, while receiving the protesters on behalf of the state governor, expressed concern over the unfortunate incident that has impaired the future of the girls.
He described the incident as “a national issue” just as he promised that Oyo State would do everything to make the state more secure. He also prayed for the safe return of the girls while applauding the women group for their courage and show of concern.