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UN Resident Coordinator Leads March Against Violence Against Women in Abuja
UN Resident Coordinator Leads March Against Violence Against Women in Abuja
By: Michael Mike
The United Nations Resident Coordinator, Mohammed Fall on Saturday led some prominent women activists in a march on major streets of Nigerian capital city of Abuja to demand for the end of violence against women.
The march was part of activities marking the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence (GBV) celebrated worldwide.
During the march which was organized in Abuja by the UN Women in conjunction with Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF), Medicaid Cancer Foundation, the UN Resident Coordinator alongside the women carried placards demanding for an end to violence against women and spoke against what they termed crime not only against women but humanity.
Addressing the media after the long walk, Mr. Fall said there was urgent need for an end in violence against women, girls and boys, insisting that everyone needs to be involved in the campaign as it affects the entire human race.
He lamented that the statistics of violence against women is still very much alarming and showed that it needed to be approached with all round strategies that would make people to know its harm and get offenders no hiding place.
Fall said there is still much told be done by government, law enforcement agencies and leaders in all sectors to build awareness against violence against women and to expose it for what it is: crime against humanity.
Speaking on the need to put an end to the crime, the former First Lady of Kebbi State and Founder of Medicaid Cancer Foundation, Dr Zainab Bagudu said with the law against violence against women in place, there is still need to fight on until the society shows it does not tolerate violence against women.
She said after the law, “then the next step becomes the implementation and general awareness, the mindset of the average, person from our environment, is that they don’t even understand what constitutes abuse. So we need to educate them, to make them aware, and most importantly, to combine the facilities that they need if abuse should take place, we focus on women and young adolescent girls, but boys are also victims of abuse, and they can turn out to be perpetrators once they have been abused.”
She said “there is continuous need
to organize educational classes in schools and different places, so that we can educate our boys and they can prompt be supportive.”
She noted that there is need for much more efforts at ending the violence against women, insisting that: “Well, it’s (campaign) never enough. We’re a very large country. The population is high, so we know the challenges that we have and different conflicting priorities. So it’s important that we don’t get tired, and one of the advocacies that we do, to call on government to provide more resources, and donor partners, to help us. The task can be quite big, and the police can sometimes not be as responsive as we would like them to be, due to other reasons, but we hope that they will be more acute to the trauma that this causes to women, children and some men when it happens, and that’s why we keep on advocating so it’s not enough. We need to have more. We need to have more action. We need to have more understanding. There are also programmes that focus on educating our security forces so that they really understand how they should be reacting. Every police station should have a desk against gender based violence and women should have the confidence, or abused victims should have the confidence to approach these desks, make their point without fear of stigmatization.”
On her part, the Mandate Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, said the campaign was on in all parts of the Federal Capital Territory to drive the message to the grassroots.
She noted that: “We need to keep aggregating and scaling like what is happening today. We need to have more of this advocacy. We need to have more of the intentionality of collaborations between governments and private, public individuals, people who are able to invest and engage not just the interest, but in terms of the action and bringing interventions from messaging to the place of invested empowerment, of the mindsets of cultural traditional practices.”
Project Manager of WARIF, Adeola Potts-Johnson, on her part, said the campaign has been a success so far for it has grown from just being held in a city to many important cities of Nigeria and prominent cities across the globe.
She said WARIF would continue to push the bar until violence against women becomes history.
UN Resident Coordinator Leads March Against Violence Against Women in Abuja
Troops Intervene in Farm Destruction Incident in Plateau, Move for Peaceful Resolution
By Zagazola Makama
Troops of Operation Safe Haven have intervened in a reported farm destruction incident in Lamingo village, Jos East Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Security sources said the incident occurred at about 5:10 a.m. on May 3 when troops of Sector 1 (Sub-Sector 12), Lamingo, responded to a distress report of cattle grazing within the compound of one Mrs. Shittu Yakubu.
The sources disclosed that upon arrival, the troops intercepted the cattle, while the herder fled the scene on sighting security personnel.
According to the sources, the owner of the cattle, identified as Alhaji Mamuda Ibrahim, has since been contacted to facilitate an amicable resolution of the incident.
They added that the situation was brought under control without further escalation.
The sources noted that efforts are ongoing to strengthen community engagement and prevent recurrence of similar incidents in the area.
Troops Intervene in Farm Destruction Incident in Plateau, Move for Peaceful Resolution
Troops Rescue Five Kidnap Victims in Kogi After Pursuit of Abductors
By Zagazola Makama
Troops of the Nigerian Army have rescued five kidnapped victims following a swift response to a kidnap incident along the Okpella–Okene Road in Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State.
Security sources said the operation was carried out at about 12:43 a.m. on May 3 by troops of 195 Battalion (Reinforced) deployed at Forward Operating Base Okpella.
The sources disclosed that the troops, while on night patrol, responded to a distress call indicating that a vehicle had been attacked and its occupants abducted.
According to the sources, the troops immediately pursued the kidnappers, forcing them to abandon the victims and flee into the surrounding bush.
They added that five victims were successfully rescued during the operation, while two of them sustained injuries.
The injured victims were evacuated to the ENAW Dialysis Centre for medical attention, while others were stabilised.
The sources noted that follow-up operations are ongoing to track down the fleeing suspects and prevent further criminal activities along the axis.
Troops Rescue Five Kidnap Victims in Kogi After Pursuit of Abductors
Where Justice Mark Chidiebere Crossed the Line
By Zagazola Makama
The recent arrest and handover of Justice Mark Chidiebere, popularly known as Justice Crack, to the Department of Security Services has sparked predictable debates about free speech, accountability, and the limits of online activism. But beneath the noise lies a more serious issue one that goes beyond blogging and into the sensitive terrain of national security.
From available details, the turning point was not mere criticism of the military. Democracies tolerate, and even benefit from, scrutiny of their institutions. The red line appears to have been crossed when private conversations between the blogger and serving soldiers suggested alignment around “change of government.” In any country, that phrase, especially when involving active-duty personnel is not taken lightly. No professional military, whether in Nigeria or elsewhere, would ignore such signals once credible evidence emerges.
The Nigerian Army’s response, therefore, should be viewed through that lens. This is an institution that has, in recent months, remained alert to internal and external threats, including failed attempts by rogue elements to destabilise the system. When a civilian is perceived rightly or wrongly to be encouraging disaffection or coercing soldiers within the ranks, it triggers an entirely different category of concern. At that point, it is no longer about opinion, it becomes a question of discipline, cohesion, and national stability.
This is where many content creators must draw a hard lesson. The digital space is not a vacuum. Conversations especially with uniformed personnel carry consequences. Amplifying unverified allegations, engaging soldiers in sensitive political discussions, or projecting narratives that could be interpreted as incitement can quickly move from advocacy into dangerous territory. The line is not always visible, but it is very real.
There is also the broader issue of responsibility. Too often, fragments of internal grievances are pushed into the public domain without context or verification, feeding a cycle where the military is portrayed only through its shortcomings. While criticism is legitimate, a pattern of reckless amplification erodes public confidence and, more importantly, can embolden hostile actors who thrive on internal discord.
If indeed the conversations attributed to Justice Mark Chidiebere reflect attempts to influence serving soldiers toward political ends, then the response by authorities was not just expected; it was inevitable.
What we must all know is that freedom of expression does not extend to actions that could undermine the stability of the state. In an era where a single message can travel faster than any bullet, knowing where the line is and choosing not to cross it has never been more important.
Where Justice Mark Chidiebere Crossed the Line
Troops Intervene in Farm Destruction Incident in Plateau, Move for Peaceful Resolution
Troops Rescue Five Kidnap Victims in Kogi After Pursuit of Abductors
Where Justice Mark Chidiebere Crossed the Line
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