Half-Naked Kogi Women Protest in Tears as Insecurity Worsens in Yagba West

In a heart-wrenching display of frustration and pain, dozens of elderly women from the Oke-Ere community in Yagba West Local Government Area of Kogi State took to the streets on Wednesday, April 9, protesting half-naked to express their anguish over rising insecurity in their area.

Chanting mournful songs in their native dialect and wielding sticks and tree branches, the women walked barefoot under the scorching sun. Their faces were drenched in tears as they pleaded with both state and federal authorities to intervene before their community is completely overrun by violence.

“We’re tired of burying our children. We sleep with fear, we wake with tears,” cried one of the older women during the protest. “They come in the night, they kidnap our sons, rape our daughters, and leave us with nothing but sorrow.”

This protest follows a recent violent attack in March along the Ayere-Kabba Expressway, where armed men kidnapped three individuals and injured four others, leaving the entire community in fear. The injured victims were rushed to St. John’s Hospital in Kabba, while families of the kidnapped are still waiting in agony.

The women's rare and symbolic choice to go half-naked—a cultural sign of mourning, pain, and desperation—was not just a protest but a desperate cry for help. They demanded immediate action from Governor Yahaya Bello and federal security agencies to bring lasting peace to their region.

Community leaders, meanwhile, echoed the women’s concerns and emphasized that the situation has worsened to a critical level, with criminals operating with little to no resistance. “We are abandoned. We are calling for security checkpoints and community policing support,” one leader said.

So far, there has been no official response from the state government.

As videos of the protest circulate online, many Nigerians have been moved by the bravery of the women, calling their action a wake-up call for authorities to take insecurity in rural areas more seriously.

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