Womens Economic Rights> UPDATE ON EDO STATE WIDOWHOOD BILL

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Please find below the lastest on the Widowhood Bill.

WOMEN GROUP URGES IGBINEDION TO APPROVE WIDOW'S BILL
Published by Punch of 5th December 2001
                By
Teslim Oyekanmi


An appeal has gone to the Edo State Governor, Chief Lucky  Igbinedion, to rise 
above traditional norms by signing into law the bill against the maltreatment 
of widows, recently passed by the State House of Assembly.  
The call was made on Tuesday by the Women's Rights Watch in Benin, during a 
press conference.
While reacting to the statement issued by a Benin High Chief, Jackson Amure, 
who recently stated that signing the bill into law would be a disrespect to the 
Benin traditional institution, the group's chairperson, Mrs. Nogi Imoukhuede, 
stated that "it will lead to no crisis, indeed, it will create peace, progress 
and gender equality".
While lamenting the horror Benin widows are subjected to after the death of 
their husbands, Imoukhuede said "many widows have been thrown into hardship and 
poverty because of our traditional practices.
"The woman is accused  of having killed her husband and is subjected to all 
sorts of mental tortures, thrown out of her matrimonial home and abandoned with 
her children.  This is inhuman.  It stands condemned.", she declared.
She stated that harsh widowhood rites were gross violation of the human rights 
of Nigerian women.  "As a Benin woman, I am proud of Benin culture heritage, 
which is popular but, then, we say culture is dynamic and in this 21st century, 
we cannot hold rigidly to such barbarous customs such as widowhood rites that 
force a woman to drink the bath water of her deceased husband," she said.
Imoukhuede reiterated her opposition  to  harmful  practices and stated that 
she would ensure a sustained war against it.
According to her, we are not aping the whiteman, we are saying human rights are 
universal and should be respected by all cultures.
She restated the confidence of Roots and Fruits Women Farmers Society of 
Nigeria (RUFARM) and Women's Rights Watch in Governor Lucky Igbinedion and the 
Benin monarch, whom she described as "very enlightened, a lawyer by profession 
and a friend of Edo women.



Please  also find below a case our legal aid clinic handled on harsh widowhood 
rites.
In Suit No. B/361/98 Ogiamien vs. Ogiamien -
The plaintiffs Mrs. Maria Ogiamen and her children brought an action against 
Mr. Richard Ogiamen 1st son  of the deceased and Mr Izedomwen Ogiamen family 
head asking for restraining orders on the defendants from preventing the 
children of Mrs. Maria from participating in the burial of their father.
Orders were also sought restraining the Defendants from evicting the widow from 
her matrimonial home (after 42 years of marriage).  In that case the family 
wrote a letter to the widow and her children disowning them because the widow 
being a christian refused to perform the traditional  widowhood rights of the 
Binis.  Under Bini custom, the extended family is very powerful and where the 
children fail to participate in their father's burial they are not entitled to 
any inheritance.  The court presided by Hon. Justice funmilayo Oni-Okpaku 
granted the Plaintiffs' request and the children were able to participate 
unmolested in the burial.  The widow however vacated her home after 42 years of 
marriage.

  This situation is exceptional because the plaintiffs had grown up children 
who were able to fight for her.  In most cases especially where the widows are 
young, women go through fearful and humiliating ordeals, all in an effort to 
prove their innocence  (that they did not kill their husbands).

NOGI IMOUKHUEDE
PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR
WOMEN'S RIGHTS WATCH NIGERIA