#IWD: Advocacy Wing of Muslim Women’s Group, SAP, Condemn Barbaric Acts Of Ritual Killings Influenced By Tradition….”women more at receiving end”, Yusuf-Ajibade

A popular Muslim women group has condemned in totality the upsurge in criminal activity of using human being for rituals while blaming the government for lack of will to genuinely prosecute suspect for the family of the victims to get justice.

In a terse statement released to mark the International Women’s Day [IWD] by Sherifah Yusuf-Ajibade (Mrs.) Coordinator, Al-Mu’minaat Social Advocacy Project (SAP)’ with this year’s theme #iwd: Break The Bias, the group reflected on the gruesome murder of 22year-old Bamise Ayanwole who met her untimely death just because she boarded a public transport, BRT.

Read the statement below:

Young woman, Oluwabamise left work on Saturday March 5, 2022 but didn’t know she wasn’t going home to return to work ever again, no thanks to some callous devils in human skin!
This must be forced to stop immediately and start to prosecute culprits! Traditionalist or whoever!

The realisation that a young woman has been nipped at her prime, got this year’s International Women Day sad for me as a person.
Oluwabamise was pursuing her dreams legitimately but some systems allowed albeit in disguise, some practices that perpetuating extra judicial killings!
Not long ago, a boyfriend beheaded her girlfriend!
What a time to be a woman!
Until we condemn and stop all ritual killings, some other Oluwabamises are only waiting to be killed for rituals or in the name of tradition or money rituals. Women are half of humanity for crying out loud!

Traditions that calls for killings of humans or use of some human parts because a traditional ruler dies will only keep up passing this route time and again.
This same tradition has encouraged cybercrimes, “yahoo yahoo”, money ritual killings.
In the name of tradition, people will be stopped from carrying out their legitimate life activities due to curfew imposed whenever a local king, an Oba, dies or some occultists are having their things. Whoever crosses their path may be on his journey of no return to the great beyond. All human lives are sacred, king’s or subject’s, man’s, woman’s or child’s.

The Government is culpable in this crime too. The Executive Governor and others have sworn to uphold the Nigerian Constitution yet looks away while this evil acts are being carried out. This encourages the killings to continue.
We make pronouncements and condemnations yet we do not apply the provisions of the constitution on such individuals or institutions who kill others for some barbaric crimes.
The constitution prohibits extra judicial killings, maiming etc. If rule of laws fails then what reigns is chaos and anarchy. Until the government criminalises, prosecutes and bring to justice all murderers, killing in the name of traditions, money rituals rites etc, this will continue till we are ready to the right things.

Centuries back, women were good to be buried alive, shared as booty, properties or as part of legacies for heirs to use as it pleases them, including raping or killing as they deem satisfying.
One would have expected that with advancements in all spheres of human endeavours, civilisation will come with civility and humans will value one another, but we threw the humanity in us to the winds and behave even worse than animals for animals do not eat one of theirs.

#BreakTheBias is apt really as a theme for this year’s #IWD.
Let each African country and her government bring to book all those who kill humans, especially women and girls. Break the bias against being a woman and achieving her life ambitions. Break the bias against thriving women. Break the bias against productive womanhood and perhaps then we’ll be on our way to eradicating Violence against women truly. Break all biases and stereotypes working against women living her life to her satisfaction and self-actualization.
Adieu Oluwabamise! Adieu Biases!!
#IWD2022