Borno Rallies Support For Million Women Rally In Abuja Wednesday
SAN FRANCISCO, April 27, (THEWILL) â€' As concerted efforts to free the abducted Borno school girls continue, a million women rally, tagged 'Free Our Girls', is to hold in Abuja on Wednesday.
At the rally, women from across the country will adorn red attire to send a signal to the federal government that the time to free the abducted female students of Government Secondary School, Chibok is now.
Disclosing the plan for the rally was Prof. Hauwa Abdu Biu who spoke on Sunday after an emergency meeting on the need to facilitate the release of the schoolgirls from their Boko Haram abductors.
The emergency meeting was convened by the Borno First Lady, Hajiya Nana Kashim Shettima.
Last week, Biu had led a coalition of Borno women at a media briefing where they offered to go into the Sambisa Forest, the stronghold of the Boko Haram insurgents where the abducted girls are believed to be held hostage, to effect their release.
But speaking on Sunday, Biu said the Borno women would no longer go into Sambisa Forest but will mobilise women across the country to Abuja for the rally.
'The last time, we were in black but this time around the colour for the Abuja rally is red, so we should all be prepared and mobilise ourselves for the rally,' the Professor said.
Speaking earlier, the Borno First Lady called on the wives of the service chiefs both in the state and at the federal level to assist in impressing on their husbands the need to intensify efforts towards rescuing the abducted school girls.
'I want to seek this opportunity to appeal to women of security chiefs at the national and state levels to run and mount pressures on your spouses to intensify effort to rescue our dear children.
'However I feel it is necessary to call on all women in Borno to come up with their resolutions and harmonise them. Let us all put our differences aside irrespective of our faith and ethnicity, let us all join hands together to rescue these girls, I know that we can do it, Almighty Allah is with us, he knows our intention.
'I am sure for now we are not on our own, I am happy to inform you that the wife of the president called me two days ago, I believe that she is also with us, let us all join hands together irrespective of political affiliations,' she said.
Other women leaders at the meeting urged the Federal Government and the security agencies to intensify efforts towards rescuing the kidnapped school girls.
They also called for prayers and fasting in Mosques and Churches for God to touch the heart of the insurgents to release the girls.
A women leader, Barrister Aisha Wakil, however cautioned against the use of force in rescuing the girls.
Present at the meeting were wives of service chiefs in the state, representatives of non governmental organisations, women professional bodies, representatives of Federation of Muslims Women Associations (FOMWAN), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) among others.