Women, activists, JN-CAC observe National Day of mourning
Women in Nigeria joined hands with a group known as Joint Nigeria Crisis Action Committee, JN-CAC, to mourn and remember those who have lost their lives in the ongoing onslaught and killings perpetrated by herdsmen rustlers and bandits in various parts of the country, at the National Day of Mourning and Remembrance, on Monday, Unity Fountain, Abuja.
In response to the killings whose effect has been far reaching, the event was meant to challenge the government to take immediate action to bring justice and restore order in the troubled zones. It was also a time for solidarity and awakening to the challenges that confronts the unity of the country.
“Our intention is that through these actions, we as a nation will rekindle our sense of unity by reminding ourselves that we are in this together, and that the office of the citizen is the most powerful office that can be occupied in this country,” JN-CAC said in a statement jointly signed by Chidi Odinkalu, Yemi Adamolekun, Abiodun Baiyewu, Ier Ichaver, and Auwal Musa.
Records show that over 60,000 persons were killed in Nigeria’s Middle Belt between 2001 and 2016; over 1,400 persons were killed violently across the country, an average of nearly 40 per state and the Federal Capital Territory in the first 70 days of 2018. Extra-judicial killings of Nigerians in the hands of uniformed services are reported to be in the thousands annually.
Addressing the gathering at Unity Fountain, the convener of the Bring Back Our Girls group, BBOG, Oby Ezekwesili, said that human lives in Nigeria have been indexed with the ethnic group they belong to, rather than simply being Nigerians. “The dignity of the human life in Nigeria became the dignity of the life of the person, indexed to the ethnic group they belong to, indexed to the religion they practice, indexed to the part of the country they’re from, indexed to the language that they speak.
We did this to ourselves as a people. So you know what happens in the country is that every part of the country goes through a terrible time when people die amongst them and the rest of the country looks away. The Dignity of life must be protected.” She said.
Also speaking at Unity Fountain, the multiple award winning music icon, Innocent Idibia, commonly known as Tu Face, decried the killings and urged Nigerians to speak up.
“This is a serious matter. It’s an emergency situation. For me, it’s a very sad reality. It’s madness. It means it (the killings) can happen to anyone of us and nothing will happen. But the bottom line is people are being killed with impunity, and nothing is happening. The silence is shameful. I encourage Nigerians not to keep quiet. We must talk about it and hold our leaders accountable”
Urging the crowd to take action, Osai Ojigho, a Human Rights Advocate said, “ it does not matter if you’re a child, if you’re a young person, a woman, a man. The violence is just unbelievable. Are we going to stand and do nothing?”
“This is what Nigeria needs so that every one of us will wake up. Enough is enough” said Maureen Kabrik of BBOG.
The event which witnessed participation in various parts of the country was also supported by many advocacy groups who took to Twitter to show solidarity through a series of tweets. Below is a few Women’s Hub could gather: Global Rights NG @Globalrightsng “The human life is a man’s most sacred possession. It is the duty of the government to protect and sacred the lives of her citizens. End the violence, give us peace. #NigeriaMourns #NationalDayOfMourning #OneDeathTooMany #WeAreAllWeHave #ThisIsNigeria”
WRAPA Nigeria @WRAPANG “People are being killed daily, as a result of these deaths, some others are plunged into suffering. It Doesn’t matter if it was a southerner or northerner that was killed, doesn’t matter if it was a Muslim or Christian that was killed. What matters is that we have lost lots of human lives to Violent killings and we must show respect and hold our leaders accountable.
“One of the major reasons we have government at Federal, State and Local levels is to ensure the protection of lives of all citizens, yet over 3000 lives have been lost since the start of this year to violent killings. Enough is Enough #NigeriaMourns”
Cleen Foundation @cleenfoundation “we acknowledge and appreciate govt efforts targeted towards addressing the challenges of insecurity, particularly in the areas of insurgency and Herder-Farmers’ conflicts. However, we are worried that despite these efforts, the killings have continued unabated. #NigeriaMourns”
EiE Nigeria Verified account @EiENigeria “If the government thinks the incessant killings is normal, we the citizens say NO ;It’s abnormal. We want an end to it. #NationalDayOfMourning #NigeriaMourns #OneDeathTooMany”
Desmond Okon