| The IANSA Women’s Network- Nigeria is the first national chapter of the IANSA Women’s Network. Established in Abuja in March 2005, it is an umbrella organisation for groups concerned about the effects of gun violence on women. The Network seeks to raise the public’s awareness of the problem and influence policies at all levels of government. It is also hopes to bring gender perspectives to international debates and processes on small arms control.
Although its civil war ended in 1970, Nigeria continues to be afflicted by armed violence. In the north there have been clashes between the Christian and Islamic communities. In the south there is an ongoing conflict in the Niger Delta region between local people and the police. There has also been an increasing level of ethnic and religious violence in the states of Benue, Nassarawa, Taraba, Plateau, Kwara and Kogi. In 2001, several hundred soldiers from the Nigerian army shot more than 200 unarmed civilian men from the Tiv ethnic group in Benue State, and many of their wives and female relatives were raped (1). In May 2004, a state of emergency was declared in Plateau State after hundreds of Muslims were killed by Christian militants in the town of Yelwa and 49 Christians were killed in a church (2). Small Arms Survey has recently reported that a wide variety of armed groups, including political gangs, ethnic militias, community defence groups, and foreign mercenaries operate in the country with relative impunity.(3)
Furthermore, violence against women is endemic. Nigerian women are habitually subjected to violence by members of their families and communities. One in three women in Nigeria has reported having been physically abused by a male partner.(4) The country’s laws condone and even legalise certain forms of violence against women.(5) It comes as no surprise that women have been severely affected by gun violence, and disproportionately so considering they are very rarely gun users. Guns are notably used to perpetrate rape and sexual assault.
The IANSA Women’s Network –Nigeria was created to combat armed violence against women by bringing together a wide range of women’s rights activists. To date, it is made up of 30 national and local organisations who work in diverse fields ranging from education, environment, peace building, socioeconomic rights, HIV/AIDS, and public health. Members are united in their commitment to mainstream the issue of gun violence into their work. While membership is not restricted to women’s groups alone, the majority of members are women’s organisations. The Network’s founder and coordinator, Mimidoo Achakpa, says that interest in the Network has been strong, particularly among rural groups, and that membership is literally growing by the day.
The burgeoning Network has established good relations with government officials including the National Committee on ECOWAS Moratorium (NatCom) and the Presidential Adviser on Relations with Civil Society. During the fifth annual Global Week of Action Against Small Arms in June, the Network organised its largest event to date: a launch of the new Control Arms report The impact of guns on women’s lives which was attended by over 50 NGO representatives, government officials and the press. Presentations were given by notable government figures such as the Special Adviser (Relations with Civil Society) to the President, the Bayelsa State Government Representative in Abuja, and the Commissioner for Women Affairs from Benue State, and the launch was covered in two daily newspapers, the Daily Trust and the Vanguard. Ms Achakpa, who is also the Executive Director of the Women’s Right to Education Programme (WREP) that the launch gave women activists the chance to meet, network and have their voices heard: “I could see the enthusiasm with which the women spoke,” she reported.
Ms Achakpa attended the Biennial Meeting of States (BMS) in July, which gave her the opportunity to lobby the Nigerian government and inform them about the new Network. During the meeting she was interviewed on Radio Nigeria. The station has recently allocated the Network a regular time slot during which it will report on the daily impact of guns on women’s lives.
The next few months will be crucial for the new Network. A two-day strategy meeting is planned for the end of August, and Ms Achakpa is organising a series of stakeholder meetings for everyone affected by policies on gun violence. She hopes that the police will participate; it is well documented that police in Nigeria regularly turn a blind eye to violence against women. Ms Achakpa advises IANSA Women’s Network members to follow her example: “It is said that a tree cannot make a forest. I passionately appeal to the IANSA women in other countries to get up and form national networks so we can all have one voice.”
For more information on the IANSA Women’s Network- Nigeria, email Mimidoo Achakpa
iansawomennig@yahoo.co.uk. For more information on gun violence in Nigeria visit the IANSA page on West Africa
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| Endnotes
Human Rights Watch (2002), Military Revenge in Benue: A Population under Attack, New York: Human Rights Watch. [Return to text]
BBC News (2004), “Nigerian MPs back state emergency,” 19 May. [Return to text]
S. Gaya Best & D. Von Kemedi (2005), “Armed Groups and Conflict in Rivers and Plateau States, Nigeria,” in N. Florquin & E.G. Berman (eds.), Armed Groups, Guns, and Human
Security in the Ecowas Region, Geneva: Small Arms Survey, p. 14. [Return to text]
S. LaFraniere (2005), “Nigeria: Entrenched Epidemic - Wife-Beatings in Africa,” New York Times, 11 August. [Return to text]
Amnesty International (2005), Nigeria: Unheard voices. Violence against women in the family, London: AI Secretariat. [Return to text] |
