Words cannot adequately describe the level of outrage I felt when the news of a vibrant 22-year-old University of Benin undergraduate brutally raped and murdered in cold blood within the sacred heart of a church filtered in from both online and offline media. What was her crime? She was an innocent girl who had thought that the serenity that a church affords could provide her a good opportunity for studying. And what happened? Rape and murder in the cathedral in broad daylight! Her dignity, her life, and her beautiful dream were dashed to the wind with a furious boldness!
The tragic trajectory of this rising star, Uwaila Omozuwa, provoked widespread outrage and condemnation understandably so because it has become one too many in our recent history. Besides, the brazen audacity of the perpetrators is one that should shock a serious and sane society beyond words – perhaps into conscious and deliberate action. Why would rapists not become so brazen and bold to rape our collective dignity when they have been so emboldened by our complacency and gross insensitivity? The loud silence of our society has strengthened their grit and guile. The inaction of our government to prescribe a ‘criminally’ severe punishment for this abominable act has blessed us with the damning consequences we are all witnessing today. The regrettable failure of our law enforcement agents to act when they need to and their gross insensitivity to trivialise cases of rape brought to their knowledge have all contributed to peaking the rate of rape in our society.
Or do we expect angels to deal with a situation that is within the realm of man to arrest? Collective concerted efforts are what we need to deal a decisive blow on the face of this absurdity.
To my mind, our collective inaction beats any known logic. Or do we expect angels to deal with a situation that is within the realm of man to arrest? Collective concerted efforts are what we need to deal a decisive blow on the face of this absurdity. And now is the time to act for delay is fatally dangerous. Today, it’s Uwa’s story in Edo, Farishina’s in Jigawa, Barakat Bello’s in Ibadan, Jennifer’s in Kaduna. The list seems endless, who knows which of our cherished daughters might still fall prey to these bestial beings called rapists if we fail to act now? I really do not know how we intend to justify this abomination to our children’s children if by any chance they stumble on history that once, in the year 2020, 717 cases of rape were recorded by the Nigerian Police within its first five months. How do we explain to them that 25% of our daughters had suffered one form of sexual assault or another before the age of 18, according to UNICEF 2015 reports? Now, more than ever before is the time to spread the wings of our conscience to shield the girl child from these sexual predators.
What must we do? Responsibility. We must assume a collective responsibility to halt this train of terror. Every citizen must be sensitised not close their eyes to any form of assault, especially sexual assault that happens around them. The new mantra should be ‘know something, say something.’ In fact, anyone who fails to report an assault they are aware of must be charged for criminal complicity.
What’s more, the biggest hammer that will flatten the rate of this crime is castration, better still penile amputation, as punishment for anyone found guilty of it.
Our law enforcement agents must be made to come alive to their duties as protectors of the citizens against any form of abuse. They must be willing and professional to protect the identity of anyone who reports any assault. They must not be seen to trivialise any report of rape, let alone stigmatising or mocking the victims through senseless or absurd questions. The days of our policemen laughing off rape cases and dismissing the victims with a wave must be confined to the trash can of history. Blaming and castigating victims of rape is like turning logic on its head. It is said that only a thief would complain about where a rightful owner has decided to keep his property. Rape is just what it is – rape. A criminal act that cannot and should not be justified under any guise of indecent or provocative dressing. It is in our collective interest to know that those who are being raped are some people’s daughters, sisters, wives, mothers, aunts, and friends. If we turn a blind eye, we can only expect what goes round to come round someday.
What’s more, the biggest hammer that will flatten the rate of this crime is castration, better still penile amputation, as punishment for anyone found guilty of it. I strongly believe that no punishment can be considered too grave for those who brazenly and violently filch the dignity of another human being. Those who could be brazenly violent towards another deserve no milk of sympathy. I wonder how we intend to deter potential rapists if there are no direful consequences. Besides, this will send serious signals that we are serious about arresting the situation. We need to act now and fast to restore the avowed dignity with which the woman was so christened by the first man. It is then and only then that we shall succeed in trimming the frightening cases of rape in our society and declare ‘peace be still.’
*Odubajo is an educational consultant and member of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, Lagos. [email protected] 08028115734.
