By: Mandy Park
The Centre for Human and Socio-economic Rights (CHSR) has strongly condemned the violent attack on peaceful women protesters at the Kwara State Government House in Ilorin, describing the incident as barbaric and a grave violation of fundamental human rights.
In a press release signed by its President, Comrade Alex Omotehinse, made available to the media the rights group said the women were assaulted, intimidated and mercilessly beaten while protesting over the continued abduction and captivity of their husbands and children in Oke-Ode community, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.
According to CHSR, the women were grieving mothers, wives and daughters who had gathered peacefully to draw the attention of the state government to worsening insecurity in their community, following persistent kidnappings. The organisation stressed that the protesters were neither criminals nor agitators, but citizens exercising their constitutional right to peaceful assembly.
The group expressed outrage over video footage circulating on social media, which allegedly shows men armed with canes flogging and chasing the women, while security personnel, including police officers, reportedly looked on without intervening.
“What transpired in Ilorin is a dark stain on our collective conscience as a nation,” CHSR stated, adding that the failure of security operatives to protect the protesters signals “complicity” and is “deeply condemnable.”
CHSR further noted that affected families in Oke-Ode have received no clear communication or reassurance from government authorities regarding efforts to rescue their abducted loved ones, leaving them with no option but to protest peacefully.
The organisation described the attack as an assault not only on the women but on humanity itself, warning that Nigeria must not become a country where victims of insecurity are silenced with violence while criminals operate freely.
The rights group also highlighted a viral clip of a woman protester tearfully appealing to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Nigerians for help, saying the footage reflects the despair and sense of abandonment felt by residents of Oke-Ode community.
CHSR called on the Kwara State Government and the Federal Government to take urgent and transparent action, including the immediate investigation and prosecution of all individuals involved in the assault, as well as those who ordered or enabled it.
The organisation also demanded public accountability from security agencies present at the scene, urgent and coordinated rescue efforts to free all abducted persons in Oke-Ode, and adequate protection for the community and other vulnerable areas facing similar threats.
“CHSR stands firmly with the women of Oke-Ode. Their pain is legitimate, their protest is lawful, and their demand for security is non-negotiable,” the statement said. “An injury to one is truly an injury to all.”
