A former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Farida Waziri, has decried the spate of insecurity in the country which she said had left women and children as scapegoats and victims of criminality.

According to Waziri, Nigeria must be made safe for women and children to grow and flourish, while opportunities must be provided for them to fulfil their dreams without any hindrance.

She wondered why insurgents, bandits and kidnappers in Nigeria continued to feast on the most vulnerable and innocent in the society as their soft targets.

Waziri, a retired assistant inspector general of police, stated these in a statement to commemorate International Womens Day, barely few hours after gunmen suspect ted to be bandits a bducted an unspecified number of female students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in the Mando Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

She said, “Nigeria must be made safe for our women and children to grow and flourish. Opportunities must be made abundant for them to fulfil their dreams without any hindrance. This is how our society can develop like other great nations of the world.

“It is against human feelings and nature to continue to make our women and little children targets of kidnapping, rape and other forms of violence in this age and time. This shows the bestial nature of these criminal elements and I find their modus operandi appalling.

“All over the world, women and children are often protected by parties in situations of violence; unfortunately, in Nigeria, they are the targets and the worst hit. Women are by their nature caring and compassionate. It is unfathomable for women to wear military uniforms and go to kidnap their own children for reasons ranging from political, financial greed, hate and more. These are things women can never do.”