IWD 2025: CSOs Demand National Emergency On Femicide, Condemn Natasha’s Suspension
Princess-Ekwi Ajide
Being a woman in Nigeria, is increasingly becoming a life-threatening condition.
From rising cases of femicide to systemic political suppression, women are forced to navigate a landscape where their lives and voices are constantly under siege.
On International Women’s Day (IWD) 2025, civil society organisations (CSOs) including Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, are raising the alarm calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare gender-based violence, particularly femicide, a national emergency.
The organisations, in a joint statement, decried the alarming increase in the deliberate killing of women and girls, emphasising that nearly 30 women have been gruesomely murdered since the start of 2025.
They warned that these numbers barely scratch the surface, as many cases remain unreported owing to institutional neglect, cultural silence, and widespread impunity.
“Women make up nearly half of Nigeria’s population. A nation cannot prosper when half its citizens live in fear of extermination,” said Betty Abah, Executive Director of CEE-HOPE.
The CSOs pointed to deep-seated issues such as economic disempowerment, institutional misogyny, and weak legal frameworks as key enablers of gender-based violence.
They demanded stronger law enforcement, increased funding for women’s protection, and the establishment of national emergency hotlines and safe shelters for at-risk women.
The CSOs also vehemently condemned the suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Senate, describing it as a calculated political move to silence a dissenting female voice.
“Her six-month suspension is not only mischievous but a mockery of International Women’s Day in Nigeria,” they said, calling for an independent investigation into the controversy between Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
As the world celebrates IWD 2025 under the theme “Accelerate Action,” Nigerian women are demanding more than token recognition they want real change, accountability, and an end to a system that treats their lives as expendable and their voices as disposable.
