A civil rights organisation, Gender and Election Watch Room, on Monday expressed concern over the attacks on women in the 2019 general elections.
The group recalled that during the presidential election, some female electoral officials were allegedly raped and violently attacked.
The GEW said the violent attack on and shooting of a collation officer in Benue State, Prof. Dooshima Tuleun, was a further confirmation of the dangerous dimension to which the electoral space had been taken against women.
The GEW, an organ of the Nigerian Women Trust Fund, expressed these feelings in a statement on the supplementary elections signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Mufuliat Fijabi.
Fijabi called on stakeholders to investigate and bring to justice all perpetrators of attacks on women.
She said, “In continuation of its observatory role in the 2019 general elections and playing a critical role to provide Nigerians with accurate information on the gender responsiveness of the electoral process, the NWTF GEW has been following up on the supplementary elections through its deployed observers from a gender, transparent and accountable perspective.
“Against the above background, NWTF GEW has noted with concerns the increased voter inducement, violence, attack of female electoral officials and the militarisation of the electoral environment in the March 23 2019 supplementary elections for governorship, state House of Assembly and area council elections.
“These concerns have severe implications for Nigeria’s democracy from a gender perspective.”