Members of the Africa Arise for Change Network at the US Consulate in Lagos over the violation of rights of women by terrorists.

Global Terrorism : Women cry out to Trump, US; demand protection from Boko Haram in Africa

A group of women, under the umbrella of Africa Arise for Change Network, has cried out to the United State President, Donald Trump for protection from terrorists in Africa.

The group said threats to women in Africa called for urgent need for America to reassert its global leadership status.

Recall that Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a faction of Boko Haram, had recently executed Hauwa Leman, an aide worker with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Borno State.

The terrorists also vowed to keep Leah Sharibu, one of the Dapchi schoolgirls, who is currently in their custody, as “a slave for life.”

Irked by the ugly incidents, the women in a letter addressed to Trump through the US Ambassador to Nigeria; called on the United State Government to urgently intervene before it is too late.

The letter signed by Gbemisola Osadua, Executive Director of the group, decried that most of these women and girls abducted by Boko Haram in the northern areas of Nigeria experienced sexual violence including rape, torture and also murder.

She further urged America to stand in and ensure the protection of the rights of women and children from further abuse by Boko Haram terrorists.

The letter reads.

The President of the United States of America
White House
Washington DC,
The United States of America.

Through the US Ambassador to Nigeria,
Lagos.

Dear, President of the United States of America,

BOKO HARAM: THREATS TO WOMEN IN AFRICA AND THE URGENT NEED FOR AMERICA TO REASSERT ITS GLOBAL LEADERSHIP STATUS

We bring warm greetings to you and the assurances of our best regards.

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 experienced sexual violence including rape, torture and also murder. A recent study suggests that more than 45% of those killed by the Boko Haram are women and children.

Boko Haram abducts women and children during raids on towns and villages in North-East Nigeria and detained them in Boko Haram’s 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 the 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.

The attacks by Boko Haram terrorists have also led to the deaths of many children. In July 2013 the insurgents invaded a government-owned boarding school in Mamudo village in Yobe state, killed 42 students and teachers and burnt down the school. On 25 February 2014, the insurgents invaded Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe State and gruesomely murdered about 59 students and burnt several buildings in the school. In November 2014 a suicide bomber entered a secondary school by disguising himself as a member of the school and killed about 47 school pupils and injured many others during their morning assembly.

Dear President of the United States, the list is inexhaustible hence this appeal for your kind intervention in saving women and children from the threat of Boko Haram in Nigeria and by extension in Africa.

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.

It is also safe to state that terrorism now transcended international boundaries and no country could combat the scourge alone. And this is why we are of the opinion that the United States of America must take its rightful place as the global leader in the fight against terrorism by coming to the aid of Nigeria.

The threat from terrorism will remain high because there are now more extremists group from more countries active in more places than ever before. Extremists will continue to exploit weak and violence-prone areas, including in Africa, for safe havens and to build skills. The terrorist threat in Africa is increasing because of links between local extremists and terrorist groups such as ISIL, as evident in Boko Haram (Islamic State West Africa Province).

The contributions of the United States of America toward combatting 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 there 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.

It, therefore, behooves on the United States of America in its capacity as the global leader in the fight against terrorism and the perseverance of human rights to rise to the occasion in this regard in Nigeria and Africa.
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.

While we anticipate a favourable response, please accept the assurances of our highest regards.

Gbemisola Osadua LLB, BL, ACIArb(UK)
Executive Director