INWOAD condemns rape of women, girls in Nigeria, demand for justice

The Initiative for Women’s Accelerated Development in Africa ( INWOAD) has condemned the incessant rape and killing of women and girls in Nigeria and has joined other stakeholders in demanding for justice for the family of the latest victims Vera Uwalla Omozuwa, a University of Benin undergraduate who was gang raped and grusomely murderd in Benin recently and 18 year old Barakat Bello who was killed in Ibadan.

In a press statement signed by the National President of INWOAD Ms.Evelyn Hauwa Onyilo and made available to journalists in Abuja today, the Non- Governmental Organisation while condemning these heinous acts , called on the security agencies to bring the perpetrators of this evil act to book and bring them to justice.

The statement noted that sexually abusing and murdering of Uwalla in the precincts of 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 Nigeria in line with the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of 2015.

Onyilo further explained that, we must enforce the VAPP act to protect our women and girls from evil people Ms Onyilo added. It also stated that 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.

It encouraged other victims and their families and indeed every Nigerian to speak out against these heinous crimes being increasingly perpetrated in our nation against women, girls and children due to a culture of silence and the fear of stigmatisation and inneffective investigation.