By SIKIRU AKINOLA and KEMI BUSARI
The women community of the Obafemi Awolowo University,
Ile-Ife, on Tuesday, lent its voices to the ongoing protest for the release of the abducted
276 girls by Boko Haram insurgents at the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok,
Bornu State.
Decked in white and red clothes and numbering about hundred,
they converged at the Motion Ground and later moved round the campus to express
their displeasure over the manner of disappearance of the missing children.
The procession, which was led by the Director of the Centre
for Gender and Social Policy Studies, Professor Soetan, had participants
displaying placards with inscriptions such as "#bringbackourgirls
now!", "our staff and students condemn the abduction of Chibok
girls", "If it can happen to the Chibok Girls, then no one is
safe", "Real men don't buy girls", "I am a parent and I
condemn the abduction", "As parents, we feel the pain and anguish of
the families of the Chibok girls".
While addressing reporters, Soetan said that they organised
the protest "in order to join their voice with national, regional and
international organisations to protest the abduction of these future female OAU
students/leaders".
She said the centre was outraged by the heinous crimes
against humanity by the insurgents, saying that, as women, they were irked by
the abduction of the Chibok school girls.
"We are concerned about the plight of these young girls
who have not committed any crime to deserve this treatment meted to them by the
insurgent Boko Haram sect. They've gone to school so that they could be
liberated and in the process got punished for what they knew nothing of. It
could be my child, it could be yours. Let's join hands against insecurity in
Nigeria".
She, however, appealed to security forces and well-meaning
Nigerians to provide information to locate the whereabouts of the missing
girls.
Also speaking, the Dean of Student Affairs, Lateefah Durosinmi, said that the protest is
to show empathy and give solidarity to the parents and families of the abducted
girls.
"We don't know what they've been eating or what they've
done to them. Anybody that has information on how to get these young girls should
not hesitate to provide it".
The University Librarian, Bukky Asubiojo, said that her mind
has not been at rest since the girls were abducted weeks ago.
“We are lending our voice to the national outcry. These
girls have been missing for too long. This is the time to stop all these. The
Boko Haram insurgency is assuming higher dimension on daily basis. If we fail
to lend our voices and do nothing because it's happening in the North, how are
we sure it couldn't get her?” she asked.
ASUU chairman, Caleb Aborisade, who was part of the protest,
said the union is against the abduction of the girls. He advised President
Goodluck Jonathan to resign if he is not capable enough to provide security for
the people of the country, especially the younger ones.
He condemned the condition given by the leader of the sect,
Shekau, saying that only a useless government will honour such condition.
A woman activist and lecturer in the department of Political
Science, Mrs. Damiola Agbalajobi, said her belief that the feminine gender be
educated remains absolute, saying she is against the abduction of school girls.
She said that there is need for re-orientation of the women
folk. She added that there are lots of things that can be done to tackle
insecurity. The government, he advised, needed to take a positive stand on the
issue.
The Director, Corporate Services, Peju Oyebisi said that he cries for the
country, adding that those girls may never recover from the shock of the whole
event.
He advised the nation's security apparatus to buckle up and
live up to the expectation of the Nigerian masses.
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