By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, has condemned the arrest and prosecution of a woman, Hamdiya Sidi, in Sokoto by the police for lamenting the incessant killings by bandits.
Ndume, an All Progressives Congress chieftain representing Borno South Senatorial District in the National Assembly, expressed the anger in a statement he issued in Abuja yesterday.
He expressed support for a similar position taken by a northern coalition called Voices for Inclusion and Equity (VIEW), which had condemned Sidi’s arrest.
Ndume noted that Sidi’s lamentations on the killings were a way of drawing attention to the killings by bandits.
He said there shouldn’t be any attempt to silence her through arrest.
The spokesperson for the Sokoto State Police Command, Ahmad Rufai, said Sidi was arrested and being prosecuted for inciting unrest in the state.
The woman had, in a video, lamented the insecurity in the state and demanded an end to the incessant killings by bandits.
She revealed how gunmen took over villages without any restraint, adding that displaced women seeking refuge in the state capital were being sexually exploited due to abject poverty and squalor.
The northern coalition, in a statement jointly signed by Asma’u Joda, Saudatu Mahdi, Maryam Uwais, Aisha Oyebode, Amina Salihu, Mairo Mandara, Kadaria Ahmed, Fatima Akilu, Rabi Jimeta, and Aisha Waziri Ibrahim, had urged Governor Aliyu to publicly oppose the treatment accorded “this courageous young lady, in recognition of his responsibility and leadership role to protect his citizens.”
The statement reads, “We expect him (the Sokoto governor) to support her, listen to her pleas for support, and address them.
“His public denouncement would send a message that the state values the lives and safety of its women. Ignoring her pleas for her community, and indeed, the state at large only deepens the wounds that violence has already inflicted on Northern Nigeria’s social fabric.”
It added, “In any just society, a woman can speak out against the conditions threatening her life and dignity. Northern women deserve this right to speak out without fear of violence or retribution.
“Their demands should flow naturally as a right, not a privilege. This is not just about one woman’s freedom but about the rights of all Northern women who refuse to be silenced in the face of brutality.
“Regrettably, this persecution of individuals who speak up on the challenges being faced in our country is becoming commonplace.
“The Northern Governors need to protect and support their suffering citizens while addressing the issues being raised, rather than take offence at the emerging realities.
“The ruling party, the APC, which is also Governor Aliyu Ahmed Sokoto’s party, would do well to demand that the governor do well by his citizens.
“So, the Inspector General of Police should call his men to order since it was the police who took it upon themselves to detain Hamdiya for ‘inciting unrest’; a young defenseless girl who merely expressed her empathy for members of her community, demanding for succour.
“Our governors must be reminded of their responsibilities as leaders, even of beleaguered, conflict-ridden spaces and communities within their jurisdictions.
“The suffering is unbearable and the attacks unrelenting. We join Hamdiyya in pleading for mercy and support for those afflicted by violence, death, and destruction in their jurisdictions.
“Our governors must stand firm in the protection of the vulnerable. They must not exacerbate the suffering by oppressing the weak who do not have the money to protect themselves. As the saying goes in Hausa, you cannot beat someone and stop them from crying.”
