The Virtuous Widows Association, a socio-political pressure group and Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), was full of praise for the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to General Sani Abacha, the late Head of State, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, for the donation of a brand-new Toyota bus to the association in Abuja to ease their activities.
The association, under the leadership of its Mrs. Ifeyinwa Benice Egbosiuba, expressed profound gratitude to the former CSO at a peaceful protest rally held simultaneously in Lagos and Maiduguri, Borno state capital recently.
The protest rally, according to Egbosiuba was to express their sadness over the continuous killings of Nigerian soldiers by the Boko Haram insurgents and thereby rendering thousands of women as widows and children as orphans.
The association at the Lagos rally, which took off from Ajah and spread to other parts of the state, expressed support for President Muhammadu Buhari on the fight against insurgency in the North-east and other parts of the country.
The Association President, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Benice Egbosiuba said, “members of the Virtuous Widows Association are not happy with the present situation in the country where our husbands are being slaughtered like rams by the heartless insurgents,” adding that the number of widows in the country is increasing daily, as a result of the killings by the Boko Haram rogues.
The group according to her, was founded in 2014, mainly to fight the cause of widows across the country adding also that the Virtuous Widows has branches in 16 states across the nation with members across the local governments in those states.
“We are appealing to President Buhari to help us out. We support his fight against terrorism and we seek peace in the North-east and that is why we are holding this rally. Many of our members from the North-east, particularly, in Maiduguri, lost their bread winners to the gruesome attacks by the Boko Haram. And there is nobody to fend for them. The children are fatherless. And there is nobody to cater for their need,” she said.
Egbosiuba also lamented that the sad experiences of the widows at the Internally Displaced Persons Camp (IDPs) could best be imagined, noting that those experiences were nothing to write home about. “There were cases of assault and rape in the camp and this is very sad, disheartening and pathetic,” She complained.
Secretary of the group, Mrs. Agerigo, lamented that gallant Nigerian soldiers like Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Abu-Ali and several others have lost their lives in the war against Boko Haram insurgents, urging that their deaths should not be in vain.
“As widows, we know what it takes to lose a breadwinner in the family and that is why we are appealing to the Federal government to make sure there is peace in the country, particularly in Maiduguri and some parts of the North-east.” She said.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Egbosiuba has advised the Federal government to support the widows as most of them depended on their late breadwinners for their livelihood.
She also expressed her appreciation to some notable individuals and philanthropists which includes Mr. Paul Adefarasin, Mrs. Ebi Ogiri, Mrs. Maureen Naomi among others who have been supporting the association by providing food and other valuables to members.
The association boss also urged other Nigerians, corporate bodies, religious organizations and social association to emulate the individuals mentioned above by coming to the rescue of the widows, who she said are vulnerable in the society.
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