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UN Resident Coordinator Leads March Against Violence Against Women in Abuja

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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

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Military Airstrikes neutralized ISWAP Commanders, others in precision strike on Sambisa hideouts

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Military Airstrikes neutralized ISWAP Commanders, others in precision strike on Sambisa hideouts

By: Zagazola Makama

The Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai has neutralised two senior terrorist commanders, Saddam and Saleh Garin Kago, alongside other fighters, in a precision air interdiction (AI) mission at Yuwe in the Sambisa general area of Borno.

Sources who disclosed this to Zagazola said that the early morning strike also eliminated Hussaini Ubaida and Ba Alayi Benbem, while destroying identified terrorist command hideouts and logistics warehouses.

The sources said the mission was executed at about 6:08 a.m. on Friday following confirmatory Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) on structures suspected to be terrorists’ commanders’ hideouts and storage facilities within the Yuwe axis.

“Upon confirmation of the targets, various military aircraft and platform, departed base to prosecute the mission. On reaching the objective area, the aircraft acquired and engaged the selected targets with precision-guided stores onboard,” he said.

The sources noted that post-strike battle damage assessment indicated that the identified command hubs and warehouses were effectively destroyed, significantly degrading the operational capacity of the terrorists in the Sambisa corridor.

According to the source, efforts were ongoing to confirm the identities of additional casualties resulting from the strike.

The military high command of Operation Hadin Kai has reaffirmed its commitment to sustain intelligence-driven operations aimed at dismantling terrorist leadership structures, disrupting supply chains and denying insurgents safe havens.

They stressed that the theartre command will continue to work in synergy with the Air component and other security agencies, to intensify its operations to consolidate recent gains and restore lasting peace in the North-East.

Military Airstrikes neutralized ISWAP Commanders, others in precision strike on Sambisa hideouts

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Four die, 18 injured in zakkat distribution stampede in Katsina

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Four die, 18 injured in zakkat distribution stampede in Katsina

By: Zagazola Makama

Four persons have died while 18 others sustained injuries following a stampede during the distribution of annual Ramadan Zakkat (alms) at a residence in Katsina metropolis.

Sources told Zagazola that the incident occurred at about 9:00 p.m. on Feb. 26 at the residence of Alhaji Dahiru Usman Sarki, located in Kofar Guga Quarters.

According to the sources, a large crowd had gathered at the residence to receive Ramadan alms when some individuals allegedly forced their way into the compound, triggering a stampede.

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Central Police Station (CPS) Katsina, swiftly mobilised to the scene and was able to bring the situation under control.

As a result of the stampede, 18 persons sustained varying degrees of injuries and were rushed to the General Hospital, Katsina, for medical attention.

Four persons were later certified dead by a medical doctor. They were identified as Bilkisu Mamman, 40, of Kerau Quarters; Ihsan Musbahu, 40, of Abattoir Quarters; Aisha Sani, 16, of Kofar Sauri Quarters; and Salamatu Kabir, 45, of Sabuwar Unguwa Quarters.

Another victim, Hafsat Zubairu, 15, of Masanawa Quarters, was referred to the Federal Teaching Hospital for further medical evaluation.

Police authorities said the organisers of the Zakkat distribution had been invited for questioning, while investigation into the incident was ongoing.

Four die, 18 injured in zakkat distribution stampede in Katsina

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Troops neutralise terrorists’ structures, arrest two logistics suppliers in Sabon Garin Fishingo in Borno

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Troops neutralise terrorists’ structures, arrest two logistics suppliers in Sabon Garin Fishingo in Borno

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of Operation Hadin Kai, Sector 2, have destroyed terrorist life-support structures and arrested two suspected Boko Haram logistics suppliers during clearance operations around Sabon Gari Fishingo in Borno State.

Security sources told Zagazola that the troops, in conjunction with quasi-security forces, conducted the operation at about 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 28.

The troops reportedly made contact with terrorists at Kayawa and engaged them with superior firepower, forcing the insurgents to flee in disarray.

The fleeing terrorists abandoned two motorcycles and five bicycles at the scene. No casualty was recorded among the troops.

Following the encounter, the troops set ablaze structures believed to be used as life-support bases by the terrorists.

The operation later extended to Sabon Gari Fishingo, where troops conducted a cordon-and-search exercise.

During the operation, two suspected Boko Haram logistics suppliers identified as Dahiru Haruna and Salele Lawali were arrested.

Items recovered from the suspects included a large quantity of drugs, medical consumables and one tricycle, popularly known as “Jega.”

Sources said the suspects were in custody for further investigation, while the recovered items were being documented.

The operation is part of sustained offensive actions under Operation Desert Sanity aimed at dismantling terrorist enclaves and disrupting their logistics networks in the North-East.

Troops neutralise terrorists’ structures, arrest two logistics suppliers in Sabon Garin Fishingo in Borno

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