The Enemona Humanitarian Foundation, on Thursday called on the Federal Government to abolish all discriminatory laws against widows in all communities.
Mr Williams Illah, Executive Director, of the foundation, made the appeal in a statement issued in Lokoja in commemoration of 2022 International Widows Day.
Illah said that discriminatory laws against widows abounded in most cultures in Nigeria that begged for government’s attention and action if it cared about the wellbeing of widows.
“As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to celebrate the 2022 International Widows Day, the government should do something drastic against those discriminatory laws and restore the joy and peace of widows.
“It’s no more news that widows in Nigeria go through a lot of horrible and inhuman experiences from their late husbands’ family members and the society on a daily basis.
“Widows are still being subjected to gruesome funeral rites such as forced ‘purification’ sexual violence, rape, shaving of heads, locking them up, denying them bath; forceful taking over of their family inheritance, among others.
“It’s high time government took specific actions against members of the society who maltreat widows and their children and stand as obstacles toward widows’ peace, joy and social development,” he said.
Illah noted that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management should particularly consider widows in its food, shelter, medical and business grant arrangements to enable them survive while mourning their husbands.
He reiterated the commitment of the Foundation’s President, Gabriel Onoja to continually provide for widows in its scheme in Kogi as resources improve over time.
Illah called on philanthropists, civil societies, non – governmental organisations, the media and women lawyers to team up and form a formidable force.
He said such a formation would adequately protect “this vulnerable segment of the society to secure their human dignity”.