Arewa women protest against insecurity

Worried by the unending spate of insecurity in the country, especially in the North, women under the auspices of the Jami’yar Matan Arewa (JMA), yesterday, converged on Kaduna to protest against the trend. Daily Trust reports that the indoor protest which saw many women carrying placards with inscriptions such as “I am Arewa”, “Save Arewa”, […]

Worried by the unending spate of insecurity in the country, especially in the North, women under the auspices of the Jami’yar Matan Arewa (JMA), yesterday, converged on Kaduna to protest against the trend.

Daily Trust reports that the indoor protest which saw many women carrying placards with inscriptions such as “I am Arewa”, “Save Arewa”, “Matan Arewa Suna Neman Ceto”, “Ni Yar Arewa Ce” and “A Cece Ni” was organised to draw the attention of the government to the plight of the Arewa woman.

Speaking after the protest, the President of JMA, Hajiya Rabi Saulawa, said, “Arewa women are fed up with the increasing spate of insecurity in the North, so we decided to organise this peaceful protest to table our grievances which we hope will get to the appropriate authorities.

“All of us in the North are very much aware of what is happening, we have attacks on the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road, as well as violence in Southern Kaduna. We have banditry and kidnapping in Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto states; then we have Boko Haram in the North east.

“The North is bleeding and something needs to be done urgently to address and salvage the situation. We, women of the North have had enough of the insecurity because we are always at the receiving end, our husbands are being killed and we are left with children to take care of. Something has to be done because nobody is safe in the country. You are on the road, you can be kidnapped, and even in your house you can be kidnapped.”

The Vice President of JMA, Hilda Makanto, said, “We have learnt to sleep with one eye. We never knew we could sleep with one eye, but we have learnt to do so.”

She raised alarm on the many cases of rape while urging government to ensure justice for victims.