Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) has pledged to protect the rights of women and assist in ending violence against women in politics.
Commandant General of the Corps, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, made the pledge when he paid a courtesy visit to the United Nations Women Country Representative, Ms Beatrice Eyong at the UN House in Abuja.
He emphasized that the role women play in the development of the society cannot be undermined as they are diligent, resourceful and goal oriented in whatever duties assigned to them.
According to him, to promote the rights of women, he established the Gender unit and launched the Gender Policy Document to mainstream women into policies and programmes of the Corps at all levels.
“About this time last year, we launched the gender policy document to ensure we have a guideline for the operation of the gender unit in all our commands across the Federation.
“The event also ushered in my decoration as a ‘He for She’ by the Honorable Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Dame Pauline Tallen, in recognition of our effort to promote women inclusiveness in our service since the beginning of my administration,” the NSCDC CG said.
While assuring Ms Eyong of women’s safety in the country, Audi said “President Muhammadu Buhari is very committed to the security of lives and property of Nigerians and foreigners alike.
“He has also charged all security agencies in the country to work together to end the security challenges in the country as soon as possible and Nigerians will see changes very soon.”
He appealed for support of the UN Women in the area of training for Gender Desk Officers of the Corps across the nation as well as technical support to aid the prevention of school gender-based violence among others.
The Country Representative of the UN Women in Nigeria, Ms Beatrice Eyong, in her response, thanked the Dr Audi for his involvement in the fight for Women’s rights.
Ms Eyong affirmed that the Corps is keeping up to speed with its mandates while assuring that the UN women is ever ready to partner with the Corps especially in areas of common interests and concerns.
She added that there is need for the partnership between the Corps and UN Women to go deeper and stronger in order to help achieve their economic empowerment programme for rural women and the nation at large.
According to her, the UN Women will soon launch a Digitally Assisted Climate-Smart Agriculture for rural women, noting that security is a major factor to be prioritized to achieve the programme.
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“We shall expand our partnership with the NSCDC to leverage on the expertise of your Agro Rangers unit to provide security for rural women who are farmers as well as our officials when the programme commences,” she added.
Ms Eyong sought the support of the NSCDC in the prevention of trafficking of women and girls, stating that about 18.5 million children are out of school and over 10 million of them are girls.
Commenting on the forthcoming general elections in 2023, Ms Eyong emphasised that women are vulnerable species that has been constantly denied of their rights to actively participate in politics.
She requested for maximum support from the Corps in bringing an end to violence against women in politics.
The CG however promised to put necessary machinery in motion through the gender unit at the National Headquarters, headed by CSC Oluwakemi Ajet Alao to assist in ending violence against women in politics especially as the election year draw closer.
In his response, Dr Audi assured the UN Women that necessary security machinery are in motion to end violence against women while noting that the Corps is ready to provide security whenever the need arises.
“You can count on us. Call on Civil Defense anytime for your programs, our job is to ensure security of lives and protection of Critical National Assets and Infrastructure.
“We have justified our existence over the years and we shall continue to work hard until we achieve total security in the country,” the CG stated.
