NGO condemns rape, murder of women amidst Covid-19 pandemic

Worried by the spate of rape and murder of women as the country battles to combat the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Initiative for Women’s Accelerated Development in Africa (INWOAD), has condemned the trend and demanded justice for the victims.

National President, INWOAD, Ms.Evelyn Hauwa Onyilo, in a press statement, Friday in Abuja, called on the security agencies to ensure those behind the gang rape and murder of Vera Uwalla Omozuwa in Benin and Barakat Bello in Ibadan are arrested and made to pay for their crimes.

The initiative noted that, “The sexual abuse and murder of Uwalla in a church and the killing of Barakat in rape-related circumstances in her home shows that crime is taking a new dimension and all hands must be on deck to bring to an end this unfortunate rise in sexual gender-based violence in line with the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of 2015.” Onyilo, who said “We must enforce the VAPP Act to protect our women and girls from evil people,” noted that: “The high incidence of sexual abuse and gender-based violence is a pointer that the seemingly strong are devising ways to lord it over the weaker persons and these must be checked, by way of swift, efficient and effective response to crime by law enforcement agencies.”

INWOAD urged victims of sexual abuse, their families and all well-meaning Nigerians to speak out against these crimes being increasingly perpetrated against children, girls and women due to a culture of silence and the fear of stigmatisation as well as in effective investigation and prosecution by the law enforcement agencies.

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