“It seems that Nigeria has become a killing field, as insecurity and terror reign from one end to the other, and there seems to be no end in sight at present…It is evident that Nigeria has practically become a failed state; a country fails when it is no longer able to protect its citizens from harm and secure their welfare. A country fails when instead of reassuring its citizens by actions and policies that the future is secured, it becomes a state most people are planning to flee to other climes where their governments are truly functioning.” – Cardinal Anthony Okogie, Emeritus Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos.
Words fail to describe the numbing feelings of Nigerians over the nation’s state, and the Owo massacre only took it a few notches higher. But a women rights group, Womanifesto has again pressed home its demands calling for a thorough investigation, transparent security budget report, and publication of the identities of victims of the terror attack at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo state, among others.
The National Coordinator of the Womanifesto, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi who presented the women’s demands to Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu urged him to make the women’s demands known to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Thereafter, Womanifesto in collaboration with the Ondo State Ministry of Women Affairs and the office of the wife of the governor staged a protest in Akure the Ondo State capital demanding a stop to incessant killings across Nigeria. The women led by the governor’s wife, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu Akeredolu, and Dr. Akiyode all dressed in black carried placards with the inscriptions – ” Mr. President Secure our lives”, #stop the killings.
The women took the protest to the governor’s office in Alagbaka where they met with Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and members of his cabinet. Receiving the women’s group, Governor Akeredolu insisted that restructuring and adopting state police were the viable option for getting the country out of the threats of insecurity.
The women later proceeded to Owo town where the Womanifesto group made some donations to the hospitals where the survivors were receiving treatment.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has urged the federal government to declare a state of emergency in the various forest reserves in Owo/Ose Federal Constituency, Ondo State in order to comb and fish out criminals perpetrating crimes.
Below are photos of the protest match and presentation of demands.
