Nigeria’s Ministry of Women Affairs in partnership with security agencies and other key stakeholders have been able to come up with an initiative to involve more female security personnel during the 2023 general elections.
The Minister, Dame Pauline Tallen said this at the third annual forum of the Women, Peace And Security Sector Reference Group, with the theme “The role of female security personnel in the 2023 general election”.
Dame PaulineTallen explained that the aim of the initiative was to ensure that women who were pregnant and Breast-feeding mothers cast their votes without stress as well as maintain a violence free voting environment for women.
The Minister added that dialogue and mediation are all part of the peace process to which women possess such qualities hence the need for their participation during electioneering processes.
United Nations-women Country representative Beatrice Eyong in a remark said the resolution was adopted because of the significant role women played in politics.
“There is need for security institutions to collaborate with INEC, civil society organisations, UN agencies, development partners and the media amongst others to prevent violence against women is critical”.
While the British high Commissioner to Nigeria Catriona Laing said all hands must be on desk to ensure the smooth conduct of the 2023 general election as security at the election is very important.
Meanwhile, IGP Usman Alkali Baba represented by AIG Aisha Abubakar said special training of personnel is currently on-going to prepare officers of the force on what to expect at the polls when confronted with challenges that could arise during the electioneering process.
Reporting by Jamila Abubakar and Azizatu Sani, Editing by Tersoo Nicholas