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.