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Women Group Begs US To Save Nigerian Women, Children From Boko Haram, ISWAP

October 24, 2018

"Nigerian women and children have been at the receiving end of the brunt of the activities of Boko Haram terrorists as a result of increasing feminization of terror vide the use of young girls and children in their nefarious activities. Most of these women and girls abducted by Boko Haram in the northern areas of Nigeria experience sexual violence including rape, torture and also murder. A recent study suggests that more than 45% of those killed by Boko Haram are women and children."

A group of women under the umbrella of the Africa Arise for Change Network has called on the United States to intervene in the fight against terrorism.

In a statement issued to journalists, Gbemisola Osadua, Executive Director of the group, decried that the women and girls abducted by Boko Haram in the North experience sexual violence, including rape, torture and murder.

She further urged US to help ensure the immediate protection of the rights of women and children from further abuse by Boko Haram terrorists.

The statement read: "This letter is a passionate appeal for the kind intervention of the United States of America to the plight of women and children in the hands of members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP-Boko Haram).

"Nigerian women and children have been at the receiving end of the brunt of the activities of Boko Haram terrorists as a result of increasing feminization of terror vide the use of young girls and children in their nefarious activities.

"Most of these women and girls abducted by Boko Haram in the northern areas of Nigeria experience sexual violence including rape, torture and also murder. A recent study suggests that more than 45% of those killed by Boko Haram are women and children.

"Boko Haram abducts women and children during raids on towns and villages in North-East Nigeria and detains them in Boko Haram camps. A typical example is the abduction of 276 female students of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Bornu State from their hostel on 14th April, 2014, into Sambisa forest.

"Similarly, on February 19, 2018, one hundred and ten (110) schoolgirls aged 11–19 years old were kidnapped by the Boko Haram terrorist group from the Government Girls' Science and Technical College (GGSTC), Dapchi, area of Yobe State, in the northeast part of Nigeria.

"The activities of Boko Haram have dramatically changed the lives of thousands of women and children, often casting them by force into new and ignoble roles outside the domestic sphere. Gender-specific suffering has recorded high figures. While men have disproportionally been killed, women are an overwhelming majority among the estimated 1.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North East.

"It is, therefore, our considered opinion that there is an urgent need for the United States of America to reassert its global leadership status by intervening in the war against terrorism in Nigeria and Africa. This is important because armed conflicts such as the Boko Haram conflict do have a devastating and harsh impact on women and girls. Women and girls suffer violations such as rape, forced prostitution, sexual slavery, forced impregnation and in some cases deaths as evident in the cases of Hauwa Liman and Saifura Khorsa, two aid workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross, that were summarily executed by the Boko Haram terrorist group in North East Nigeria.

"The contributions of the United States of America towards combating terrorism in the world cannot be overemphasized given the fact that between October 2015 and October 2017, the US fought terror in 76 countries in the world.

"Dear President of the United States, the terrorist threat in Nigeria is felt more in the lives of women and children, whose rights have been continually violated with impunity. It is therefore of great importance for the rights of women and children to be protected because women rights as human rights have been at the heart of a series of international conferences that have produced significant political commitments.

"We, therefore, make this passionate appeal to the government of the United States of America to stand in and ensure the protection of the rights of women and children from further abuse by Boko Haram terrorists."