Outraged by the ongoing carnage in their communities, hundreds of grieving women flooded the streets of Ugbokpo in Benue State’s Apa Local Government Area on Tuesday, demanding an end to the brutal killings by armed herdsmen who they say have turned their villages into “a community of widows.”
Under the banner of The Voice of the Voiceless Women in Apa, the placard-bearing women launched a peaceful protest as early as 8am, marching through Ugbokpo’s streets with solemn songs and tears—mourning the relentless slaughter of husbands, children, and neighbours.
The protest was sparked by the latest bloody attack on Sunday that claimed 28 lives across Ijaha, Ibele, Ochekwu, and Edikwu Ankpali communities. Several others were left injured in what residents described as a calculated and unprovoked invasion.
With grief scrawled on their placards, the women held signs that read: “Fulani, stop killing our men”, “Apa is our land, not for Fulani”, “Apa, a community of widows”, “Government has failed us”, “Government, come to our aid or we die”, and “Fulani must go”.
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Ahead of the protest, the bereaved women and members of the Apa Chapter of the Hunter Group had sent a formal letter to the authorities and security agencies titled “Notification of a peaceful demonstration,” decrying the unending violence plaguing their homeland.
In the letter, they lamented: “We took to the streets after herdsmen forcefully entered our farms, homes, and rooms to kill and destroy our children, husbands, and dear loved ones, including our fellow women. And today, our children can hardly go to school, our lives are in danger, and our future is in shambles.”
One of the women leading the protest, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, condemned the inaction of both state and federal governments, calling their silence “deafening and deadly.”
“The government’s silence is too golden. Even in the Northeast where Boko Haram operates, they do not go into people’s homes to slaughter them like animals. But in Ankpali and other parts of Apa, the herdsmen go from house to house, butchering people in a dehumanising and cruel manner. The government must rise to its responsibilities and put an end to the gruesome murder of our loved ones.”
The women’s march stands as a searing cry for justice from a community overwhelmed by grief, fear, and abandonment—left to mourn its dead while calling on the Nigerian government to stop the bloodshed and reclaim their homeland from terror.
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