EXTRA: Insecurity causing scarcity of husbands in south-east, says Anambra commission

The Anambra Truth, Justice and Peace Commission (ATJPC) says the problem of insecurity in the south-east has created a scarcity of suitors for women.

The commission was created by Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra, to investigate the remote and immediate causes of insecurity in the state and the region.

The commission is chaired by Chidi Odinkalu, a former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

In a report submitted to the government, the commission revealed that killings had resulted in a structural problem of demographic sustainability because women were finding it difficult to find male partners.

“The killings from the ongoing violence in Igboland generally and in Anambra in particular due to violent crimes and claims of agitation have once again disproportionately affected the stock of young males in the region,” the report reads.

“It has reduced the likelihood that women will be able to find suitable mating or marriageable partners while also increasing the likelihood that females will end up unmarried and reproductively unfulfilled.

“It will further swell the number of unmarried women in the region, particularly among those who reside in the homeland and have limited interaction outside the boundaries of home.

“These women could remain unmarried or wait out their productive years in search of a suitor who has likely been killed.”

The report stated that women are some of the worst-hit victims of the insecurity in the region.

“Married women who have no sons can lose access to land and to subsistence in a political economy in which re-marriage can be quite difficult for a woman with children,” the report reveals.

“Naturally, the additional stress of this kind of life on top of the trauma of the disappearance of the husband or bread-winner can lead to diminished outcomes for physical and mental health.”