From known celebrities to students, market women, corporate giants and clergy women from different denominations all gathered a while back for the National Women's Prayer Summit with theme “The Supplication” hosted by Jumoke Adenowo and Awesome Treasures Foundation to pray against violence in Nigeria.
Award winning photographer TY Bello who took these photos said "We were going to be praying against violence in Nigeria. I was itching to pray with everything but something kept pressing to bring my camera so I just followed the nudge. The room was filled with women as diverse as we come, from known celebrities like Funke Akindele and Stella Damasus to students, market women, corporate giants and clergy women from different denominations.
What set this prayer meeting apart was this, before the prayers were made, a woman would mount the podium and narrate her PERSONAL story in the violence. A woman from Jos for instance, came up and graphically narrated how her community was burnt down with pregnant women and children slaughtered in the process.
As she spoke, what started as one woman wailing uncontrollably in the back became a wave that spread across the room and Everyone (including Funke Akindele, Ufuoma Ejenobor, Tara Durotoye, Nike Adeyemi, Mary Alibaba among others) began to cry and pour their hearts to God for the blood that was being shed across our nation.
There really wasn't a place to hide our emotions this wasn't the news or a blog post. This was OUR sister.., standing before you in flesh and blood .. Uttering truth we had mastered the art of turning a blind eye to.There were no blind eyes in the room. There wasn't one dry eye either. Reality came and stared us right in the face."
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