As part of activities marking the year 2024, 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV), the Allamin Foundation for Peace and Development has organised an event to commemorate the International Human Rights Day.

The event drew 80 youths, including persons with special needs and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), to educate them about the root causes of violence and human rights violations in Maiduguri.

Speaking on this year’s theme, “Our Right, Our Future, Right Now,” Executive Director of Allamin Foundation, Hamsatu Allamin, said it has become pertinent to empower the youths with relevant information on so as to train them to nurture a violence free society that stands against GBV and Gender inequality.

She outlined the charters of demands from Jire Dole Network and other networks of victims of human rights abuse and sexual violence in amplifying their voices and fostering a peaceful and developed society.

An Islamic scholar in Borno, Sheikh Ali Mustapha, Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Borno State chapter; Apostle Joshua Michael, NDLEA Representative; Abduljabar Adam, Senior Special Adviser to the Governor on Women Affairs; Honourable Lucy Dlama Yunana; and other human rights activists seperately intimated the participants on the effect and religious perspective of GBV and human rights violations, the ills of drug abuse, and the psycho-social aspect of it.

The speakers unanimously warned that the fight against GBV should start right from homes while calling on parents and care givers to be wary of their wards and the upbringing they instill in them.

It was also observed that drug and substance abuse is rampant among youths from 18-35/40 years while calling for campaigns against the practice to end crimes and drug-induced misconducts.