The International Federa
tion of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Rivers branch, has  appealed to the Council of Elders at Finima, Rivers State, to abolish harmful  traditional widowhood practice in the community.
The Rivers State Chairman of FIDA, Mrs Florence Itamunoala, made the appeal at Finima during an advocacy campaign in the community.
Our correspondent reports that some of the practices include compelling a widow not to bathe and stay in a filthy room while  mourning her husband.
Itamunoala said “widows in Rivers State are suffering in silence not because their husbands left them with nothing, but because after the death of their husbands, the men’s relations inherit the property.
“That is why we are here in Bonny. We are here to plead with the elders to inspire changes that will transform women in Bonny from this 2014.”
She added that in some local government councils in the State Chiefs and elders had set up communal committees where such matters were addressed.
She urged the Council of Elders to set up such committees to alleviate the sufferings of widows in the area.
She listed such violence to include rape, domestic violence and abuse of women, among others.
“Also, many young girls are carrying unwanted pregnancies, denied by those that were once their partners.”
She decried the rate at which children in the community dropped out of school and appealed for a change of attitude.
Responding, the spokesman for the council, Mr Amoni Hart-Brown, said Finima had undergone changes because of the presence of multi-national companies in the community.
“Finima is a cosmopolitan town and the presence of the companies had modified the tradition and culture of the place.”