Women stage peaceful protest in Abuja over missing girls

Chat 212 Mail Summary...

► Nigerian women in Abuja,defiled the rains to stage a protest, registering their anger over the continued detention of over 200 Nigerian girls by the Boko Haram sect.
► The women said they would not rest until the girls were found and delivered back to their parents alive.
► They said that the demonstration was to register the agony they are feeling as a result of the abduction of the girls.

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Nigerian women in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on Wednesday defiled the rains to stage a protest, registering their anger over the continued detention of over 200 Nigerian girls by the Boko Haram sect.

The girls of a Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok were abducted on April 14 after an attack on a the community.

Briefing journalists after the demonstrations the women said they would not rest until the girls were found and delivered back to their parents alive.

The protesting women were of the opinion that ongoing efforts must be swift, demanding for a swift search and rescue operation in order to secure the release of the girls.

“We are marching back to the National Assembly if after 24 hours they do not get any concrete and visible action,” one of the women told reporters.

The women, coordinated by Dr Obi Ezekwesili, Mariam Uwaiz, Saudatu Madi and Hadiza Bala Usman, marched from the Unity Fountain from about 3:30pm, singing to register their anger even as the police guided them to their destination.

They said that the demonstration was to register the agony they are feeling as a result of the abduction of the girls.

They held up placards with inscriptions like; Rescue Our Children, Please Find Our Daughters, Save Our Sisters, Rescue Our Chibok Girls.

Intermittently, they stopped to address the crowd, insisting that not even the rains can stop them until they get to the National Assembly, where the leadership of the National Assembly also defiled the rains to address them.

The Senate President, David Mark, House of Representatives’ speaker, Aminu Tambuwal and his deputy, Emeka Ihedioha, addressed the women.

They stressed that the National Assembly had scheduled a meeting with the president to discuss the issue and assured the women that they would do their best to ensure that the girls would be rescued soon.

Moments later the women returned to the take-off point, where they poured out their anger over what they have been through so far following the abduction of the girls.

Some Nigerian men and concerned fathers, including human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, wonder why the authorities are paying lip service to the welfare and security of the citizens.

This is the second demonstration following the perceived inaction by security agencies over the abduction and continued detention of those Nigerian girls.