To mark International Albinism Awareness Day, at least one hundred albinos in Nigeria have gathered in the capital Abuja, to call for an end to discrimination and social exclusion. CGTN's Kelechi Emekalam has more.

Persons living with Albinism gathered to make their voices heard. In Nigeria, there are over 2 million Albinos. But they complain about stigmatization, social exclusion and outright discrimination at different levels of society. Hembadoon Asongu is one of them. She is a farmer from North Central Nigeria and a mother of four. Like many others, she gets sun burns and finds it difficult to see. She fears the sores on her skin could be skin cancer. Because of her condition, she says people run away from her.

HEMBADOO ASONGU PERSON WITH ALBINISM "I face a lot of discrimination from people especially now that I am in this condition. It hurts me a lot and I get rejected by many people."

The United Nations says Albinism is still profoundly misunderstood, socially and medically. Their physical appearance is often the object of erroneous beliefs and myths influenced by superstition. Advocates say there has been very little change in terms of how they are being treated in the society.

JAKE EPELLE PRESIDENT, ALBINO FOUNDATION "Discrimination among persons with Albinism starts from the home, school, churches and mosques, the larger society and of course the work place. The work place discrimination is hideous. It is so pronounced that employers of labour will tell you I can't employ you and they do that ridiculously. They will ridicule you."

KELECHI EMEKALAM ABUJA, NIGERIA "The UN says there have been nearly 700 cases of attacks and killings of persons with albinism in 28 SubSaharan African countries since 2010. These are reported cases alone. Majority of persons with albinism in some countries die from skin cancer between 30 and 40 years of age. Advocates in Nigeria say the implementation of the laws protecting them is key to ending some of these acts against them. Kelechi Emekalam, CGTN, Abuja, Nigeria."