Restiveness and killings in Anambra and the entire South-East geopolitical zone will deny Igbo women the opportunity to have spouses.

The declaration was made in the report of the Anambra Truth, Justice and Peace Commission (ATJPC), the executive summary of which was made available to journalists on Friday in Awka, the state capital.

It noted that restiveness and killings had resulted in a structural problem of demographic sustainability because women were finding it difficult to find mating partners.

The report stated that women were some of the worst-hit victims, as they might continue to suffer from killings, rape, loss of husbands and sons and denial of livelihoods.

It also noted that thousands of young people had been killed in Igboland since 1999, when restiveness became pronounced in the region, just as many had fled the rural areas.

“It has reduced the likelihood that women will be able to find suitable mating or marriageable partners while also increasing the likelihood that females will end up unmarried and reproductively unfulfilled,” it said.

The commission said the security challenges will further increase the number of unmarried women residing in the South-East.

“These women could remain unmarried or wait out their productive years in search of a suitor who has likely been killed.

“They may feel intimidated about giving birth to a child outside marriage for fear of being labelled wayward and humiliating their families for birthing children into illegitimacy,’’ it declared.

The report recalled the case of Amaka Igwe, the lawyer, who was killed in Onitsha alongside her husband. It also recounted the killing of Harira Jubril near Umunze in Orumba South Local Government Area on May 25, 2022, alongside her four daughters.

It stated that the killings had resulted in destitution or dependencies among men and had led to economic impoverishment for many women, mass widowhood and enforced childlessness.

The commission noted that in rural or farming communities, polygamy had remained prevalent and women’s access to land depended on their relationship with the men in their lives.

“Married women who have no sons can lose access to land and to subsistence in a political economy in which re-marriage can be quite difficult for a woman with children,’’ it stated.

The report stressed that the consequences of insecurity had negated previous progress made on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Anambra, as young boys abandoned education and fled their communities for fear of being killed or abducted.

The United Nations created 17 world development goals called the SDGs in 2015 with the aim of peace and prosperity for people and the planet then and into the future.

Anambra’s 14-man ATJPC was inaugurated in June 2022 to investigate insecurity in Anambra and the South-East. It submitted its final report to Governor Chukwuma Soludo on Wednesday.

The commission has Chidi Odinkalu, a human rights lawyer and former chairman of the Nigeria Human Rights Commission, as its chairman. 

(NAN)