Expedite action to end war against insurgents in North-East – Market women

Market women in the North East Nigeria have appealed to president Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency put in place measures that will end the activities of Boko Haram insurgents in the region.

The women operating under the aegis of Forum of North East Market Women, in a statement said, they have been thrown out of business as a result of festering activities of Boko Haram insurgents in the region.

The women who claimed that over 200 of their members have been kidnapped, raped and sometimes killed by insurgents, have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to expedite action in the ongoing war against insurgents with a view to immediately ending the menace even as they hailed the president for his priority attention to the war against the adversaries.

The forum, in the statement jointly signed by its National Chairperson, Hajiya Mariam Ina Bulama and National Secretary, Hajia Zainab Gadzama, decried the activities of Boko Haram in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states saying, their sources of livelihood have been taken away as a result of the insurgency.

They stated that they are out of business adding that they are finding it difficult to survive as a result of activities of insurgents.

“We are a group of active market women from the six states that constitute the North East.

” We issue this statement to express our plight as market women in the North East, especially in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states as a result of Boko Haram and other security challenges. We have been thrown out of business and our means of livelihood by the activities of Boko Haram insurgents in our region.

“We appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to take urgent actions that will end this long suffering in our land, especially as it affects the women, the group said.

“We have lost almost all our values as women in the North East, our sources of livelihood have been taken away as a result of the insurgency.

“We are out of business and as it stands today, we are finding it difficult to survive as a result of activities of insurgents.

“It is regrettable that all the roads leading to our local markets where we get our food items from have been blocked by insurgents, “the group lamented.

They further stated that the situation has assumed an alarming dimension since January 2021, with more than 200 or more of our members kidnapped, raped and even sometimes killed on their way to the local markets in search of daily bread.”

“We have been going through these pains for some time now but the dimension the insurgency has taken from January to date is extremely alarming, “the group said.

The forum claimed that all roads to communities are blocked following heightened tensions in the region causing them to abandon their trade, security agents have also taken over their fishing business.

“Worse still, some members of security agencies have taken over our core fish business. This act of hopelessness have led so many of our women to turn to drug addiction for temporary succour,” it said.

The group claimed that: “No part of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, apart from their state capital cities are safe as at today”, adding:” And we wonder why the media is silent about the atrocities being carried out here by the terrorists.”

” We strongly feel that some powerful forces in charge of security in the North East are deliberately compromising in the war against the adversaries.

“We also believe that these powerful forces may have influenced the media in the reportage of activities of this region, because the reports coming out from here are far from the real situation on ground. The ugly activities of the terrorists are underreported, “the group claimed.

It alleged that: “It is regrettable that some security agents instead of doing the work that brought them to North East, have now taken over our trade of fish and other items leaving us at the mercy of hunger and Boko Haram.”

According to the Forum of North East Market Women,” We cannot do otherwise because there is no road to access our villages anymore..”

“All the local roads are not safe for passage, this clearly poses great danger to food security. As we issue this statement, there is extreme hunger in our land,” it said.