In a desperate plea for help, women in the Akoko council area of Ondo State, Southwest Nigeria, took to the streets on Wednesday, stripping down to their undergarments to protest the rampant insecurity that has gripped their community.
The women, their bodies painted with mud and tears streaming down their faces, accused local authorities of failing to protect them from the terror of kidnappings, murders, and attacks carried out by what Vanguard called “armed herdsmen,” who in virtually all cases are actually radicalized, Islamist militia of the Fulani ethnicity.
The protest followed the gruesome murder of a farmer, Sunday Ayeni, by herdsmen—a tragedy that has forced many farmers to abandon their lands in fear. The women stormed the palace of the traditional ruler Oba Adebori Adeleye, during a security meeting, demanding justice for the victim and an end to the Islamist militia’s reign of terror.
The dramatic protest, a rare occurrence in the conservative West African nation, is the latest outcry against a growing wave of violence that has gripped Nigeria in recent years. The women, many of whom rely on farming for their livelihoods, say their lives have been shattered by the unrelenting attacks.
Oba Adebori Adeleye acknowledged the women’s pain and assured them that security forces were actively working to address the crisis.
—Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
