Nigerian Athlete, Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteghonor has ran an impressive 22.04 seconds in the 200m race at the Wes Kittley Invitational Track and Field Meet at the Abilene Christian University.

Apart from becoming the new African record, Okagbare’s winning time also becomes the new national record in the women’s 200m. Okagbare’s previous personal best in the event was 22.23secs and was set at the 2014 Eugene Diamond League.

Her feat has erased the 200m women African record held by Mary Onyali-Omagbemi since August 1996.

With her latest exploit, it means that Okagbare at the moment holds the Nigerian records in the women’s 100m (10.79secs) and 200m.

The Wes Kittley Invitational was her first competition of the season as Okagbare did not compete in the indoor season, which started in January.

The 26-year-old is one of the 37 athletes listed by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria to participate at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, which begins on April 4.

Credit: fabwoman.ng

Renowned Nigeria social media influencers, advocates, celebrities and concerned Nigerians took to the street of Lagos sparking spontaneous protest against rape, assault and domestic violence.
They joined several concerned Nigerians from different sectors of the society to create awareness and encourage victims to speak up.

The seventh edition of the much awaited Walk Against Rape campaign was held on Thursday, March 15th 2018 in support of the ongoing war against rape in the country and in commemoration of the International Women’s Day.

The walk which is aimed at creating awareness and lending a voice to sexually abused persons (particularly women and children) in the society was a huge success as people came out enmasse to participate and speak up against rape.

The hashtag #Walkagainstrape didn’t only dominate social media conversations on Thursday, but it also trended on social media.

The National Coordinator, Walk Against Rape, Esther Ijewere said:

”We appreciate Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for his recent declaration of 25 years jail term for rapist and perpetrators of all forms of domestic violence.
However we have this one demand to make and it is for the REJUVENATION OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM AND LAWS!, There should be a more transparent justice system to tackle sexual crimes, create and enforce existing laws that protect women from discrimination and violence, including rape, poundings, torture and all forms of verbal abuse. We call on the government to revive the justice system for people to have firm faith in it.

Project Fame Finalist, singer and actress, Immaculate Edache who was also part of the Walk Against Rape said:

” Rape is an unjustified act that is injurious to the human soul. Therefore rape is a crime that shouldn’t be taken lightly”.

The walk cum demonstration started from the Archbishop Vining Memorial church (AVMC) ground and ended at the Ministry of Women Affairs, Alausa, Ikeja.
The feedback, engagement and interaction gotten from the walk indicates that more and more awareness needs to be created in order to combat the scourge of rape.

See more photos below

Evicted Big Brother Naija housemate, Ifu Ennada has shared a touching story where she revealed that she was raped by someone in the entertainment industry back in 2016.

According to her, ‘When I was in the Big Brother House emotions were raised when during a Truth or Dare game I said I’d not really had sex. People interpreted that as me claiming to be a Virgin’.

She wrote,

 “The truth is in 2016 I was raped by someone in the entertainment industry, before then I was a Virgin. This person also infected me with an STI… I was also threatened by this person and was very scared of social media’s bashing with the usual questions of “what was she wearing!” ” why did she go to his house ?”… so in all my sadness and depression I decided to tell the world what had happened to me using film as a medium.
I was inspired to write and produce my film – Tears of A Broken Virgin. I got a lot of help from social media – people volunteered to work for me free of charge even my director – Benny Atagame Alli

Though some parts of my film is fiction, the bulk of it was inspired by my story. The lead character’s name is Ada which is a short form of my name Adanne- popularly pronounced as Ennada.

Because of my sad experience I battled depression, developed trust issues and found it hard to connect with people especially men.

I wanted to tell my story and also pass a strong message to rape victims and rapists…I hope I was able to do that with my film.
I intend to expand this into a feature length film. I hope everyone out there is inspired to stand up against rape.”

Watch the short film below.