The latest rescue of additional 234 women and children by the Nigerian Army from the Sambisa Forest in Borno State, indicated, yesterday, that a sizeable number of the rescued girls were visibly pregnant, even as unofficial reports put the latest number of pregnant girls in one of the camps in Borno as at last Saturday at 214.
Giving this indication in Lagos, Executive Director, UNFPA, Prof. Babatunde Osotimehin, also disclosed that in the last one year, the organization had taken deliveries of over 16,000 pregnancies in the troubled North East part of the country.
Osotimehin, while giving update of the response to the rehabilitation of the rescued women and children, said the organization, in anticipation of the magnitude of the problem on hand, had put in place a formidable team in collaboration with the Federal and state governments, to first restore the dignity of the girls, who, he said, are facing severe psychosocial trauma.
On the state of the girls, he explained that most of them, due to the long period spent in captivity, required a special set of services that would facilitate their integration into society.
“What we found is that some of the women and girls that have come back actually have much more in terms of the stress they have faced, so the counselling has to be more intense and working with them one-on-one.
“I’m glad the communities are not excommunicating them and are taking them back. That is an important therapy too. We anticipate this is going to escalate because the military intervention is continuing, we find that more people are now needing our services and we will continue,” he stated.
Further, he explained that the UNFPA had earlier collaborated with the Federal and state governments to train 60 counsellors to offer psychosocial services to the affected women and children. He noted that those trained were people from the communities, who understand the context and sociology of the people.
“UNFPA is providing dignity for women. In conflict and disasters, most people would only think of water and sanitation, provision of tents and housing, and food, which are all important. But women and girls have specific needs that nobody else looks after; it is only UNFPA that is doing this. We are giving psychosocial counselling.
“Beyond that, in the growing young people, we will always have pregnant women, but nobody segregates the needs of the pregnant women which are very important and different from the needs of the average community. We look after them, and ensure they get antenatal care and that they deliver properly and that they even get Caesarean Section when necessary. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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I feel bad and cowncast about this happenings to these helpless women. Is it easy to carry pregnancy of bastards? What a shame and pain they're going through! Equally for those innocent babies, what story do one tell them and moreover what kind of children are we expecting them to be to the society? Why didn't the army do what they're doing now, then, in the first place? It would have gone in history if they had earlier on taken this kind of decisive action to glory of God and Nigeria and the defence of this great country and to the credit of the individual fighters. I believe anything done to lift the name of this country by anyone of us will go a long way to boost the moral of this country, we as of ambassadors of good work. Action they say speek lauder than voice.
ReplyDeleteThe government should ask the girls if they want to keep the pregnancy, if they don't want to keep the pregnancy, the stupid pregnancy should be terminated voluntarily. It makes me sick to my stomach. Those children are unborn bastards. This is not about religion, this is about dignity and common sense.
ReplyDeleteWhy give birth to another potential insurgent? Hmmmm God forgive me but won't ve such baby
ReplyDelete