The National Council for Women Societies (NCWS) has condemned the invasion of the National Assembly by political thugs, describing the incident as a defilement of the nation’s hallowed chamber. President of the Society, Mrs Gloria Shoda in a statement issued in Abuja said the action was a threat to democracy and unity of the country.
The statement recalled that on April 18, the Senate plenary was disrupted after suspected thugs invaded the chamber and made away with the mace; an incident which occurred few seconds after a suspended senator, Ovie OmoAgege , entered the chamber.
According to the statement, Shoda maintained that for thugs to defy security arrangement at the National Assembly and perpetrate the hallowed chamber, the desecration goes to show the porousness of the nation’s security system. “If thugs could invade the Senate, it means that nowhere in this country is safe.
This calls for full investigation into the incident and full prosecution of anyone found to be complicit in it because there appears to be an institutional conspiracy for the thugs to beat the tight security at the National Assembly,” she said. “This ugly development is capable of creating serious crisis than what we already have and every woman should stand to condemn this act.
The council also condemns the beating of a female security officer who was on her legitimate duty. It is a shame that the thugs extended their barbaric act to a woman that was on duty,” she decried.
The statement called on the federal government and security agencies to find out these involved in this shameful act of assaulting woman. “Violence against women must not be tolerated in the society and perpetrators must face the full wrath of the law. Women’s rights are human rights,” it stressed.
