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Black Monday: Christian women protest killing, kidnapping in Zuru, Nigeria

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5 years ago

June 14, 2021

Editor

Reeling in the pain of killing and kidnapping raging in the Zuru emirate of Kebbi, Christian women in the emirate massed out in their numbers to protest on June 14.

Scores of men and women in Sakaba, Wassangu, Fakai, and Zuru LGAs have been killed by Fulani bandits from Zamfara and Niger.

The security agencies have not been responding as promptly as expected because they have to get clearance from the state command headquarters.

The affected population is predominantly Christian, which has so far added a religious coloration to the terrorist activities going on there.

During the June 14 rally, the women dressed in black, singing Christian songs in their local dialect.

There have been three attacks in the area in the last two weeks, the last claiming 66 lives.

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Vote-buying remains a major concern One of the strongest warnings from Osun was the continued presence of vote-buying and voter inducement. Yiaga Africa said the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were consistent with its independent statistical projections, but cautioned that this did not remove concerns about the integrity of voters' choices amid reports of vote-buying and inducement. The concern is particularly significant ahead of 2027, when political competition will take place nationwide and involve presidential, National Assembly and state-level contests. The International Republican Institute (IRI), following a pre-election assessment mission conducted in August, identified monetised political competition, election-related violence, insecurity and declining public confidence in INEC among the structural challenges facing the 2027 elections. IRI recommended stronger investigation and prosecution of vote-buying and voter inducement, urging INEC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and security agencies to act on credible allegations. Technology improves transparency — but has limits The Osun election also demonstrated how electoral technology can improve transparency. INEC's electronic transmission of polling-unit results through the IReV platform provided observers and members of the public with a mechanism to monitor uploaded results. Yiaga Africa subsequently said the official results were consistent with its independent statistical estimates, describing the outcome as evidence that the announced results reflected the ballots counted at polling units. However, technical problems with BVAS were reported during voting. CDD said difficulties involving biometric verification and slow processing occurred in several LGAs, including Irepodun, Ejigbo, Obokun, Osogbo, Olorunda, Ola Oluwa, Ede North and Ede South. 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With Nigeria's 2027 general elections scheduled for January 16, 2027, the Osun experience provides both a warning and an opportunity: the country has made progress in electoral transparency, but vote-buying, insecurity and declining trust must be confronted before they are magnified across a nationwide election.

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Black Monday: Christian women protest killing, kidnapping in Zuru, Nigeria

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