FOMWAN, dRPC partner to provide psychosocial support to abducted rescue survivors in Niger state
The Federation of Muslim Women Association in Nigeria (FOMWAN) on Wednesday trained its desk officers to provide psychosocial support to 27 abducted survivors recently rescued in Niger state.
Hajiya Kulu Abdullahi, the Amirah of FOMWAN in Niger, said this during a one-day sensitisation workshop on the religious perspective on prevention of double Gender-Based victimisation of survivors in Minna.
The victims rescued on July 3, by the police, some were with advanced pregnancies and infants believed to have been fathered by their abductors.
The training was in partnership with Development Research and Project Centre (dRPC) supported by Ford Foundation.
Abdullahi explained that the programme which incorporates perspectives from both islamic and Christian faiths seeks to address the stigma and trauma these survivors face.
She added that the initiative aimed to provide these survivors with psychosocial support and help them reintegrate into their communities.
“Traditionally, we know that when gender based violence or kidnap victims are rescued, they face difficulty reintegrating into their families and communities.
“Therefore the training is to equip supporters to show empathy and create a safe space for the survivors.
“These victims have suffered trauma and now face stigma from their people, hence the need to guide them and support them to reintegrate into the society,” she said.
She said the training included perspectives from both Islamic and Christian faiths to encourage officials to approach rehabilitation with a strong moral and religious foundation.
Also speaking, Malam Hassan Aliyu, Director of Partnership and Communication in the Development Research and Project Centre (dRPC), said fear of stigmatisation had caused some rescued victims to consider returning to their abductors.
He said there was need to engage religious leaders and training of service providers to understand how religion can be used to tackle stigma and promote the acceptance of survivors.
“If a service provider understands that their faith has made provision on how to handle and take care of survivors, it will become easy for them to seasmslessly integrate them back to their communities,” he said.
He added that the training target was to ensure that the survivors do not face double victimisation first from the hands of their abductors and from their people after reuniting with them.
Aliyu disclosed plans to further engage religious and community leaders in the local government areas where the victims come from to deepen the impact of the psychosocial support.
Also, Hajiya Mairo Mann, Permanent Secretary Niger Ministry for Justice, commended the organisers the timely intervention and urged victims spouses to support them for which reintegration into the society.
