International Girl Child Day: FONWIP Request Lawmakers to Pass the Five Gender Bills

Forum of Nigerian Women in Politics (FONWIP), has appealed to the Nigerian government, consulate, diplomatic missions, emissary and envoy to support the “Every Woman Treaty” being proposed to the United Nations, UN to save girls and women from every form of violence against women and girls.

 The appeal was made in a statement issued by the President, Forum of Nigerian Women in Politics, Hon. Florence Gbinigie to celebrate the International Girl Child Day, all over the world with the theme, Invest in Girls Rights; Our Leadership, Our Well-being.

 According to her, “the Girl Child is the future of any nation. It is therefore very important to see their welfare and development to ensure a productive society. Unfortunately, the rights of our girls have been violated in recent times, through denials and neglect by the authorities and all stakeholders.

 “The most important item needed to preserve their reproductive flow, the sanitary pad, has gone beyond their reach and the government has refused to do something about it, through subsidy, jeopardizing their rights of access towards its reach.

 “The violence against the girl child has become rampant in several ways. There has been increased kidnapping, sexual and gender-based violence on our girls. Our girls have been denied their educational pursuit from increased raiding and kidnapping of the girls by the insurgents armed men, like the Boko haram, who sexually abuse them at will. Some are even killed.”

 Hon. Gbinigie who was a former Commissioner for Women Affairs in Edo State  noted that on the night of 14-15 April, 2012, 276 girls mostly Christians, aged 16-18 were kidnapped by Islamic terrorists’ group, (Boko haram) from the government girls’ secondary school at the town of Chibok in Borno state.

 She recalled that also in February 19, 2018, militants raided School of Science and Technology (GGSTC) an all-girls school in Dapchi community, Bursari LGA of Yobe state and as many as 110 girls age between 11-19 years were missing.

 “Another incident took place in February 2021 in Jangebe, precisely in Government Girls Science Secondary School in the North West state of Zamfara. According to the principal of the school, 317 girls were kidnapped by armed bandits. This was confirmed by the police commissioner who spoke with reporters.

 “It was a string of abductions in Northern Nigeria as 42 were kidnapped in the boarding school in North Central state of Niger that left one student dead. In katsina state, there were two mass kidnappings eight days apart” she added.

In her words, “The education of our girls is under attack, no child should be made to choose between her education and life. This is a gross violation of girl’s rights and a horrific experience for a child to go through. This could have a long-lasting effect on their mental health and well-being.

 “According to Save The Children International (SCI), more than 1,680 school children have been kidnapped in Nigeria since 2014 and this has stopped children from attending school. Because of all these violence which includes sexual, domestic, trafficking and kidnapping of our girls, it has become evident that the future of our Nation is critically at stake.

 “We therefore call on all stakeholders, particularly the national and state law makers to consider our five gender bills and the Gender and equal opportunity bill.  We appeal to the Nigerian government, consulate, diplomatic missions, emissary and envoy to support the “Every Woman Treaty” being proposed to the United Nations UN, to save our girls and women from every form of violence against women and girls.”