Women societies lament cyberbullying of Taraba leaders

The National Council of Women Societies, Taraba State branch, and its affiliate organisations on Tuesday raised the alarm over what they described as the growing trend of blackmail, intimidation and cyberbullying targeting women occupying leadership positions in the state.

The council, at a press conference held at the Nigeria Union of Teachers Hall, Jalingo, said the attacks were increasingly taking the form of coordinated digital campaigns, personal threats and malicious publications aimed at discrediting women in public service.

The President of the NCWS, Taraba State branch, Mrs Mercy Daniel, said the organisation was particularly concerned that the attacks were not legitimate criticisms of the performance of the affected officials, but personalised campaigns allegedly designed to silence them and force them out of public service.

According to her, the council had observed the weaponisation of social media through gendered insults, systematic intimidation and the publication of sensitive personal information against women leaders.

She said doctored images, deepfakes, hacked information and alleged leaked banking details were among the methods being used to attack the officials.

Daniel identified the Managing Director of the Federal Medical Centre, Dr Aisha Shehu; the Executive Secretary of the Taraba State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Audu Echuseh; the Provost of the College of Nursing Sciences, Mrs Dorcas Dugule; and some female commissioners as among those allegedly targeted by the campaigns.

The NCWS described the attacks as a form of gender-based violence, warning that sustained harassment of women in leadership could undermine public confidence in institutions and discourage younger women and girls from aspiring to public office.

The council particularly criticised the publication of alleged private bank account details belonging to Echuseh by an online medium, describing it as an invasion of privacy and questioning the basis for publishing the information and allegations against the TSEMA boss.

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The women’s body called for an investigation by the Central Bank of Nigeria and relevant security agencies into the alleged leakage of confidential banking information, including the identification and prosecution of any bank officials and collaborators found to have been involved.

While insisting that it did not support corruption in any form, the NCWS said allegations of wrongdoing against women in public office should be subjected to investigation and adjudication by competent authorities rather than trial on social media.

The council said Echuseh had voluntarily submitted herself to the authorities for investigation when allegations were made against her and noted that the matter was now before the court.

It questioned why the alleged media trial and character attacks should continue when the judicial process was already underway.

The council demanded that the cybercrime divisions of security agencies intensify efforts to identify and prosecute individuals, sponsors and media organisations found to be involved in harassment, blackmail and cyberbullying.

Daniel also called for an immediate end to what she described as media trials and intimidation of women leaders, saying women should not be forced to abandon public service because of coordinated digital attacks.