IGP’s wife seeks support for widows of slain policemen

The wife of the Inspector General of Police, Zahra-Bunu Mohammed Abubakar, on Wednesday said that the association of police officers wives was still seeking financial and materials resources to provide succour for widows of policemen murdered in Nassarawa State, Borno State and other states in Nigeria.
Abubakar said this during the commissioning of the Lagos State Police Officers Wives Association Secretariat, held at Oduduwa, Ikeja, Lagos State.
She said: “We are on a resource drive to provide succour for widows of policemen gruesomely murdered last year in Alakiyo, Nassarawa State, Borno State, as well as widows of police officers who paid the supreme price in the course of their services to our fatherland.”
Abubakar, who urged for empowerment for police officers’ wives, said that the commissioning of the secretariat was not just significant, especially since it was her first assignment outside Abuja since becoming POWA’s president, but also perhaps the first time in history of POWA that it had ever received a magnificent edifice from any of the state in the country.
While praising the Lagos State First Lady, Dame Abimbola Fashola, who was present at the occasion, Abubakar said that the project would not have become a reality if not for the support, commitment and love of Governor Raji Fashola.
According to her, POWA aims at realizing a vision, which is to become an effective, sustainable organization that would actively enhance the quality of life of women and children.
The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Princess Victoria Orelope Adefulire, commended the police and other security agencies in the state for their works and cooperation, promising that the state will not relent in supporting them.
Orelope-Adefulire noted that the building of the secretariat was abandoned for long, until the wife of retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Marvel Akpoyibo, approached her when she was still the Commissioner for Women Affairs and they both agreed that the project must be completed.
She added: “Lagos State Government did it because it believed in developing women. It’s one of our cardinal objectives in the state. We need to develop women as it will reflect on the family. As government, we need to give maximum support to POWA, so that the women could as well assist their husbands.”
The chairperson, POWA, Lagos State chapter, Rabi Umar Manko, stated that the secretariat was named after the late wife of the IGP, Hajia Mariam MD Abubakar.
Manko added: “We must realize the impact and affection Mrs. Mariam MD Abubakar had, having been a chairperson of this chapter and her ascension to the national level before her eventual call to glory. It is in view of this realization that the national chapter of POWA, in conjunction with the Lagos chapter agreed to immortalize Hajia Mariam MD Abubakar.”
The secretariat is called: Hajia Mariam MD Abubakar POWA Secretariat and Multi-Purpose Hall.