‘Insecurity is fueling domestic violence in Northern Nigeria’

The Executive Director of Zamani Foundation, Dr Talatu Zamani-Henry, has raised an alarm over the unabated economic hardship in the country, saying the condition is exacerbating poverty, insecurity, and Gender-Based Violence, especially in the Northern part of the country.

In a statement Tuesday, Zamani-Henry said the growing intensification of banditry, kidnapping for ransom, as well as rising cases of Gender-based Violence, has been repeatedly linked to the continued shrinking of economic resources, opportunities, and the struggle for survival.

She worried that despite overwhelming data showing women and children being the most affected by the negative impacts of all the developmental challenges bedevilling the country, society has not done enough to assuage the pains.

According to her, the number of out-of-school children in the country, particularly from the Northern region, has continued to skyrocket, adding this is so because of the failure to decisively bring the protracted deadly insecurity and economic crisis to an end.

She said the growing cases of Maternal Mortality in the country are worse in the North because of the refusal to invest in quality, accessible and affordable public healthcare institutions for the masses.

“For instance, in our three decades of field intervention, we have repeatedly come face-to-face with the everyday experiences of women and children in the core North. Poverty, hunger, sickness, fear, and death are the regular occurrence.

“And these are innocent, aspirational but vulnerable people whom the society has now conditioned to only think of survival and safety, instead of chasing their dreams like any other person. These people are mostly women, children, Persons with Disabilities, Aged, and Orphans,” she worried.

Stressing that the issues have been left unattended for so long a time, hence they have festered, Zamani-Henry, said there i
was a need for a permanent and long-term solution beyond politics.