The Christian Council of Nigeria (CCN) has embarked on a weeklong campaign on violence against women and girls across the country.
The CCN president, Most Rev. Benebo Fubara-Manuel, told journalists on Monday in Lagos that the campaign was organised in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF).
“This phase of the project has Sokoto, Adamawa, FCT, Lagos, Ebonyi, and Cross River as focal states.
“We are kicking off a week of sensitisation in Lagos State beginning from July 19 to July 25,” the CCN leader said.
He said the church would engage in mass street rallies and meet with significant political and government figures who could initiate positive changes in this regard.
“We shall hand out fliers, stickers and pray to our one and only creator and redeemer in our churches so that we shall see an age in which violence against children is ended.
“We also call on all religious leaders and on each and every one who hear us to join hands with the CCN in this work.
“We urge all churches to prioritise this in their liturgy and join with us in ending violence against women and girls,” he said.
The president identified unemployment and insecurity as factors contributing to undue sufferings to women and girls in the country.
“We recognise that violence has taken an aggressive form in many facets of our society in recent times due to the increasing rate of unemployment among young people.
“We also recognise that the poverty of many homes exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the inter-tribal and communal clashes in many regions of the country, have combined to bring undue sufferings to woman and girls in our country.
“With the deeply rooted patriarchy of our cultures, albeit in varying degrees, we cannot deny that women and girls have been the chief victims.
“We, therefore, condemn the rampant raping of infant girls for ritual and selfish purposes,” he said.
The president said that ending violence against women and girls was a possibility and expressed belief that churches had been part of the problem.
“So with this, we should be part of the solution.
“We challenge the patriarchal systems long embedded into the fabric of the faith confessions of our historic churches and reject every violence against women and girls,” he said.