A
Non-Governmental Organisation, catering for the need of widows, the Rock
of Ages Empowerment Foundation, has put the number of widows in
Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, at over 10,000 following the violence
perpetrated by the Boko Haram Islamic sect.
The Chief Executive Officer, RAEF, Mr.
Ignatius Ezeigbo, stated this in an interview with our correspondent in
Abuja during an empowerment programme for widows in the Federal Capital
Territory.
Ezeigbo called on the Federal Government
to enact a law that would guard against harmful traditional practices
being administered on widows, especially by families of their spouses to
prove their innocence on the death of their husbands.
He said, “Recently, I received a call
from Maiduguri to say that the number of widows which stood at 1,000, is
now over 10,000 because of Boko Haram. This explains why the government
should prioritise the security of its citizens.
“My prayer is for our government to rise
up and enact a law to protect these women. If they were left with the
things their husbands had before they died, the condition of some of
them would not be as bad. But some of them, even before they finished
the burial of their husbands, would not be able to lay hold on any of
their properties. And this is where it is important for women to be
educated. If the government doesn’t enact a law to protect widows their
suffering will continue to increase.”
He cited the example of a woman from Gombe State, whose family house was leased out after the death of her husband.
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