by Oge Okonkwo
Reports from a Non-Governmental Organisation, the Rock of Ages Empowerment Foundation, catering for the need of widows, has put the number of women who have lost their husbands due to the violent attacks by the Boko Haram Islamic sect to be over 10,000.
This report was stated in an interview by the Chief Executive Officer (RAEF), Ignatius Ezeigbo, with journalists in Abuja during an empowerment programme for widows in the Federal Capital Territory.
Mr. Ezeigbo, called on the Federal Government to make a law that would protect widows against harmful traditional practices being meted out to widows, especially by families of their spouses to prove their innocence on the death of their husbands.
Nigerian Eye reports:
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.
Open your Bible and read Isaiah chapter 4†