Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has expressed sorrow at the continued abduction of women and girls by insurgents and bandits in the country.
Aisha Buhari broke her long silence in a goodwill message to Nigerian women on International Women’s Day on Monday.
She said that she was not unaware of the impact the criminal activities of bandits had on reversing the gains already made on girl child education.
“Away from COVID-19, women and girls in Nigeria have continued to suffer abductions both in the hands of insurgents and bandits.
“As a mother, I share the sorrow and agony of the victims and their families.
“I am also not unaware of the impact that these abductions could have in reverting many successes we have hitherto achieved, especially in terms of girl-child education and early marriages.
“I call on all stakeholders to continue to exert their different levels of influence and bring these abductions to an end and to assure us that girls are safe anywhere they may find themselves,” she said.
Aisha noted that COVID-19 has had a huge impact on women; disrupted education and careers, lost jobs, descent into poverty, and proliferation of domestic violence.
She said, “Many have also died or suffered due to lack of access to basic information on the pandemic, It is therefore important, not just to continue spreading the message of the COVID-19 protocol, but to remember and support those who have been affected negatively by the pandemic in one way or another.”
Mrs Buhari had gone off the public space around September 2020 shortly after the wedding of her daughter, Hanan.
SaharaReporters had said she relocated to Dubai, citing security issues. But one of her aides, Kabiru Dodo, had said she was on a foreign medical trip.
Not a word was heard from the first lady even when she turned 50 years old on February 18, until Monday when she posted the goodwill message on her Twitter handle.
