News
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
Foiled kidnap attempt on police couple, cleric in Abuja — suspects escape with bullet wounds
By: Zagazola Makama
Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command have foiled an attempted kidnapping of two police officers and a cleric in Abuja.
The officers DSP Gabriel Tanko, attached to the Force Intelligence Department, and his wife, Mrs. Jummai Tanko, serving at Zone 7 Headquarters were targeted by suspected bandits who attempted to invade their residence at Aco Phase 2 along GAU Road in the early hours of Monday.
Sources told Zagazola Makama that the incident occurred between 12:00 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 10 after intelligence indicated that the armed group had concluded plans to abduct the couple.
Acting on the intelligence, the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit led a tactical team to lay an ambush around the hilly terrain behind the targeted residence.
“At about 1:02 a.m., the hoodlums, numbering several, approached the house,” the police source said. A gun battle ensued and lasted about 15 minutes. The team overpowered the suspects who fled with possible bullet injuries,” the source added.
Police recovered one AK-47 magazine loaded with 15 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition at the scene.
The couple was immediately evacuated to a safe location, while residents of the neighbourhood who panicked during the exchange of gunfire were reassured of their safety.
The FCT Police Command also reinforced security around the residence of a cleric near ECWA Church in the same axis, which was believed to be among potential targets.
Follow-up patrols are being conducted in collaboration with hunters, vigilantes and other security operatives.
Residents and medical facilities have been advised to report anyone found with bullet wounds to the nearest police station.
The police said efforts are ongoing to track down the fleeing suspects.
Foiled kidnap attempt on police couple, cleric in Abuja — suspects escape with bullet wounds
Kidnappers abduct young man in Abuja estate, shoot fiancée
By: Zagazola Makama
Gunmen have abducted a young man during an attack on a private residence at Leisure Court Phase 1 Estate, located under Aco Division in Abuja.
Zagazola Makama gathered that the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday at about 12:01 a.m., when the attackers gained access into the residence of Mr. Olusoji Litan on Mike Ekere Street.
Sources said the gunmen kidnapped Mr. Litan’s son, Oladeji Emmanuel, who had just arrived Abuja to visit his parents on Friday, Nov. 9.
During the attack, Emmanuel’s fiancée, identified as Amanda, sustained gunshot injuries on both thighs.
Following a distress call received at about 12:25 a.m. from the Chief Security Officer of the estate, police patrol teams, working with hunters and vigilantes, were deployed to the scene.
Three expended 7.62mm ammunition shells were recovered from the compound.
Amanda was immediately evacuated to Lawrence Margaret Teaching Hospital, River Park Estate, where she is receiving treatment and is reported to be in stable condition.
Sources said efforts were ongoing to track down the fleeing kidnappers and rescue the victim.
The case is being handled by the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).
Kidnappers abduct young man in Abuja estate, shoot fiancée
Eight police officers hospitalised in Kogi, others discharged lone accident
By: Zagazola Makama
Eight police officers deployed from Kogi State to Anambra for the upcoming 2025 governorship election are currently receiving medical treatment following a lone accident involving their vehicle along a highway in Kogi.
The accident, which occurred earlier on Monday, involved personnel of the Kogi State Police Command assigned as part of the security contingent for the election in Anambra.
Sources said that the injured officers Insp. George Nkoyo, Insp. Edith Kechere, Insp. Bright Emmanuel, Insp. Ogudele Adeola, Insp. Ibrahim Fatima, Insp. James Ifeoma, Insp. Dansuma Hassan and Insp. Hope Samuel is currently on admission at the State Specialist Hospital, Lokoja.
Sources said the officers are responding to treatment and are in stable condition.
The sources added that several others who sustained minor injuries have been treated and discharged. Those discharged include Insp. Abdullahi Mariam, Insp. Amodu Latama, Insp. Ameh John, Insp. Christina Shiaka, Insp. Owonari Kuriyatu, Sgt. Ochogwu Godwill, Cpl. Joy Akanya and PC Joy Samuel.
“The Command is monitoring the situation closely, and further developments will be communicated,” the sources stated.
The sources reaffirmed the commitment of the Kogi Police Command to ensuring adequate security deployment to Anambra State for the forthcoming election.
Eight police officers hospitalised in Kogi, others discharged lone accident
Foiled kidnap attempt on police couple, cleric in Abuja — suspects escape with bullet wounds
Kidnappers abduct young man in Abuja estate, shoot fiancée
Eight police officers hospitalised in Kogi, others discharged lone accident
Roger Federer’s Shock as DNA Results Reveal Myla and Charlene Are Not His Biological Children
THE PLIGHT OF FARIDA
POLICE CHARGE ROOMS, A MINTING PRESS
-
News2 years agoRoger Federer’s Shock as DNA Results Reveal Myla and Charlene Are Not His Biological Children
-
Opinions4 years ago
THE PLIGHT OF FARIDA
-
Opinions4 years ago
POLICE CHARGE ROOMS, A MINTING PRESS
-
News2 years agoEYN: Rev. Billi, Distortion of History, and The Living Tamarind Tree
-
ACADEMICS2 years agoA History of Biu” (2015) and The Lingering Bura-Pabir Question (1)
-
Columns2 years agoArmy University Biu: There is certain interest, but certainly not from Borno.
-
News7 months agoFAILED COUP IN BURKINA FASO: HOW TRAORÉ NARROWLY ESCAPED ASSASSINATION PLOT AMID FOREIGN INTERFERENCE CLAIMS
-
Opinions2 years agoTinubu,Shettima: The epidemic of economic, insecurity in Nigeria
