A Human rights activist, Ms Dorothy Njemanze, on Tuesday urged the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on the high rate of sexual violence in Nigeria.
Njemanze made the call while reacting to the circumstances that led to the death of Miss Uwaila Omozuwa, a 100-level student of the Department of Microbiology, University of Benin (UNIBEN), Ikpoba Hill axis.
Omozuwa was allegedly raped after her head was smashed with a fire extinguisher, which consequently led to her death at a place of worship in Benin.
“The outrage that followed the rape and killing of a 22-year-old student, Uwavera Omozuwa, in a place of worship in Edo, had led to a call for a state of emergency on sexual violence.
“Declaring a state of emergency will ensure that a stricter model that involves a comprehensive investigation and prosecution of offenders is adopted to curb the menace,” she said.
Njemanze decried the poor handling of many rape cases by the police, urging them to be more proactive and bring the perpetrators of the heinous act to justice.
“By now, we expect the police to have arrested all those who took to social media to confess to rape as the hashtag justice for Uwa trended.
“As you may know, hashtag justice for Uwa stirred conversations about rape in Nigeria. It quickly turned sour when several confession tweets by rapists emerged.
“But, it is unfortunate that nothing is done about those social media confessions,” she said.
Also, Ms Ummi Bukar, a gender rights activist, blamed the rising cases of rape in the country on poor parenting.
“Poor parenting means that so many young people do not have a proper orientation about these issues.
“But beyond parental roles, we are advocating a cultural shift that will truly abolish gender roles in our society,” she said. (NAN)