A media group committed to promoting non-violence against women and the girl child has called on all stakeholders in tomorrow’s governorship and State House of Assembly elections in Rivers State to play by the rule and ensure that there is peace throughout the election period to avoid scaring women away from voting.

Making the call in a release signed by Constance Meju, its president, Media Network On Violence Against Women expressed worries over the level of political violence being experienced in the state.

It recalled that many women came out to vote in the March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections but some of them were injured in some voting areas where violence erupted. The group noted that heightened activities in the build up to tomorrow’s elections have raised fears among voters, “especially women, who are a vulnerable group.”

The Media Network, a support group of Port Harcourt-based Kebetkache Women Development Resource Centre that promotes women participation in politics, stressed that all parties in the elections must respect the peace accord signed by the gubernatorial candidates to keep the peace during and after elections and exhibit decorum. It charged the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) “to correct all irregularities which coloured the March 28 elections, especially with regard to transparency, late or non-arrival of voting materials and faulty card readers to disallow room for any crisis which can jeopardise the lives of women participating in the voting exercise.”

The Network called on parents to advise their youths against partaking in any electoral malpractice, especially use of arms, thuggery and ballot-snatching, pointing out that elections are for selection of public servants, not war.

The group urged security personnel to be alert to halt any move to introduce violence as it urged all officials to rise above inducement and work to help enthrone the people’s choices.

•Photo shows Constance Meju.

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