By Umar Abubakar, Yola
The Widows Association in Adamawa State has called on the state government to come to its rescue, to halt increasing death among its members due to hunger, neglect and disease.
The group also appealed to the Federal Government and other relevant humanitarian agencies to come to the aid of the widows and their children.
The association’s Secretary, Mrs. Sarah Apagu who made the call in Yola, disclosed that at least 10 widows died every month in the state “because of their terrible living condition.’’
“We have about 25,000 registered widows in the state arising from the Boko Haram Insurgency.
“So far, we have been able to discover and register additional 2,000 widows whose husbands were killed by Boko Haram in the state.
“Our registered members have increased from 25,000 to 27,000 and we are still going round collecting data of the widows especially, in some areas like Madagali, Michika among others,” Apagu said.
Speaking further, she said that from reliable statistics, a significant number of the members of the association suffered chronic and some unidentified sicknesses.
‘’The worst aspect is that, they have no access to medical facility’’, she added.
According to Apagu, a retired civil servant, she lost her husband in 1993 and left to cater for her four children, while still waiting for her retirement gratuity benefit.
She also said that between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of members of the association with their children lived in terrible condition lamenting that almost all the children of the affected widows were out of school because of the deteriorating living situation, adding that some of the orphan children indulged in drug abuse.
According to her, the teenage girls are also into prostitution to eke a living.
“We have gone to many places, especially state government and NGOs, seeking for assistance for our members, but nothing is forthcoming”, she further disclosed.
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