A coalition of 300 women organisations under the aegis of Womanifesto on Saturday protested against the killing of a student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, Deborah Samuel, Yakubu by Muslim fundamentalists, saying, “Enough is enough.”
She was said to have been killed and set ablaze by her assailants after advising against posting religious materials on their WhatsApp Group.
The women said her killing without any protection from the school authorities was the most egregious pattern of religious intolerance in Nigeria.
While calling on the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, to take a public interest in the matter alongside the killing of other women, the coalition demanded the declaration of a state of emergency on the killings of women and girls.
Womanifesto also requested concerted and collective call outs in all states which have not implemented the VAP Act 2015.
The 300 women groups made their protest known in a statement titled: ‘Women groups in Nigeria condemn the cold blooded execution of Deborah for ‘religious blasphemy’, signed on their behalf by the Executive Director, Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi.
According to her, Nigerian women and girls must not continue to be endangered species thereby threatening the bright future of the country.
“Womanifesto demands a comprehensive Justice Sector and System Reform to strengthen law and enforcement especially as it concerns the rights of women. The current sector and system mostly exonerates men for crimes against women and girls and this must stop.
“We also demand the declaration of a state of emergency on the killings of women and girls and a concerted and collective call out of all States which have not implemented the VAP Act 2015.
“We call on religious leaders in Sokoto and beyond to speak out against this dastardly act. Religious bodies and leaders have a moral responsibility to foster and promote peace, religious freedoms and eschew intolerance among the adherents of their faiths. Nigerians want to see religious leaders play a unifying role and not champion divisions among the faiths”, the women groups said.
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