 A group, Coalition of Civil Society for the Girl Child and Women, in company of some parents of the abducted Dapchi school girls, on Thursday embarked on peaceful protest to the National Assembly. The parents demanded the immediate rescue of their daughters from the custody of the terrorists. The grieving parents wore black shirts with inscription: “We are Dapchi People.” The group urged the lawmakers to investigate the abduction of the students, and take steps towards safeguarding the girl child as Nigeria joins the rest of the world in marking the 2018 International Women’s Day (IWD). Mr Ariyo Dare-Atoye, who spoke on behalf of the group, said the peaceful protest was a solemn march to remind leaders at all levels that a lot needed to be done to protect women. “We are asking the National Assembly, to show leadership by urgently convening a special stakeholders summit to address the plight of women and the girl child, mostly in zones and areas prone to attacks. “The National Assembly is also urged to conduct a powerful investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding how over a hundred girls were kidnapped without them being spotted or meeting any security check points. `’We have decided to use the occasion of the 2018 International Women’s Day to further call for national reawakening and global action in support of the girl child and women in Nigeria”, he said.    One of the parents, Mr Yahaya Tarbutu, said two of his daughters Fatima and Amina were among the abducted girls. He therefore urged that Government should take urgent steps towards the release of the girls. “Today makes it 17 days that our daughters have been taken away from us in Dapchi, and we do not know how many days more they will be spending in captivity. “We are not here to condemn the Federal Government and our security agencies, but to tell them that they need to do more to make sure our daughters are released,” he said. Meanwhile, the wife of the president, Aisha Buhari in celebration of international women’s day adopted the slogan, ‘Leave Our Daughters Alone’, as a movement against the abduction of schoolgirls. In a message posted on her social media page, the president’s wife described this year’s celebration as one with a sober reflection. |
Two persons have been reported killed in Esa Oke, in the Obokun Local Government Area of Osun State on Thursday after two rival cult groups, Aloe and Aye confraternities clashed.
It was gathered that the melee started after a dispute between two members of the rival groups over a woman.
A female student of the Osun State College of Technology told newsmen that some members of the Alora group had attacked the Aye cult where they were making merry.
The reprisal attack reportedly led to the death of two person, just as other cult members reportedly sustained varying degrees of injury.
She said, “The fight was caused by a woman. Members of the Alora cult were, however, the aggressors; the Aye boys only fought back. Two students died and their corpses were taken to the mortuary of a hospital in Ilesa.”
The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Mr. Babawale Afolabi, said one person was killed, while the other was seriously injured.
He said trouble started when a cult group was initiating members of its new executive on Wednesday.
Afolabi noted that the heavy presence of security operatives in the town prevented the clash from escalating.
