On Thursday, April 29, 2021, Iniobong Umoren, a 26-year-old lady from Akwa Ibom State, was lured to Airport Road Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, where she was allegedly raped and murdered in cold blood.
Umoren had shown up at the address for a job interview that never was. What appeared like a job vacancy advert turned out to be fake, as it led to the gruesome murder of the late Iniobong, a fresh graduate of Philosophy.
The memory of her death still remains fresh in the mind of some people, especially the ladies. It was a death that sparked outrage and angered the whole nation. I am not bringing back the story behind her demise, neither am I elucidating on the motive behind her murder. I simply want to arouse our critical and reflective thinking to ponder on what lessons we may have learnt from her pathetic death. This is because, the nation has experienced such similar kind of criminal murder in the past. Who can forget the death of Cynthia Osokogu and the likes? It is time we pick out some hidden messages from these deaths.
Observing the demise of the late Iniobong, what everyone came to notice was that these deaths were mostly of the female gender. Females were mostly targeted and often victims. Additionally, they are the weaker sex and easy to subdue, that is why most rapists, ritualists and so on easily target them.
Her death must have served as a warning to everyone, both males and females, that not all that glitters is gold. It can be hard to decipher because the world at present has gone really materialistic. Many are in races and crazy pursuing after material things, wealth and money, even to the detriment of their lives. Looking at the situation of the country as far as unemployment is concerned, it is still a worrisome problem. It is the main causative factor why some people delve into crimes. It is also the reason some people can go to any length to acquire money, get job, or have a life of affluence.
In the world today, especially in Nigeria, crime has increased. There are so many scams everywhere, Yahoo-yahoo syndicates and so on. Gullible people who fail to use their senses often fall victim to their whims and caprices. These fraudsters populate the Internet, from where they get most of their victims. It is from social media that the late Iniobong Umoren was lured. Any wise person knows that not all that glitters is gold. There are actually many fake people online, as well as fake adverts, companies, and products. Knowing these, the question is still, “what lessons have we learnt?”. We should be able to learn from history. History still repeats itself. What we should learn is that we should look very well before we leap! Don’t just dive or jump in without proper investigation or enquiry. It is usually people who are impatient, desperate and greedy that easily fall into the trap of online or offline frauds and deceits. Not everyone we know or met online on social media is a ‘saint’. Experiences have shown that social media is filled with lots of evil-minded persons looking for who to devour. So, it is imperative that we know whom or what we are dealing with to avoid ‘had I known’.
Furthermore, we have entered the ember months. These are months when many things can happen. Crimes could increase, the price of commodities can go up, and evil-minded agents of darkness will polish their tactics and spread their nets for bountiful harvests. Therefore, we should be properly guided and operate with wisdom and common sense. We should be careful of job adverts posted online. Before accepting any job adverts should investigate very well the company or organization that is behind such. Did they exist? Did they have location, address, offices? Is their office situated in a questionable or strange location? Are they registered under the Company and Allied Matters, and with the Corporate Affairs Commission? Lots of intelligent questions to ask! Who is this person? Is he/she really their representative? Does he work there? Where is his ID and so on? Asking critical investigative questions will enable you know if you’re dealing with a fake or real situation. Mind you, most of these enquiries or investigations must be done by you. Don’t be lazy, lest you get brainwashed or hypenotized. It is already frightening that some people have capitalized on the unemployment situation in Nigeria to perpetrate hidden crimes and dupe unsuspecting people. Don’t be a victim, be wise. Most importantly, be not desperate or impatient, they are sure roads to calamity. Again, we should beware of love that developed online, or what I will like to call ‘Online love’. Some of these so-called love are fake, tricks to lure you, especially the ladies. You can imagine all the things that can happen as a result of this ‘love’. It is the most veritable tool in Yahoo-yahoo. Ladies are often the victims here. When you are desperate for marriage, you want to get into relationship with that ‘rich’, ‘handsome’ guy you are crushing on, or who has been disturbing you, you are a sex maniac or sex worker who wants to sleep with every John and Jennifer that courts interest, these are sure trips to disaster. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Finally, we can prevent these. Most importantly, we can avoid them. There is no guarantee that they will stop happening. In every society, there are evil people. So, the only thing we can do is to be wise, be patient, never be desperate. With time, that right thing you are looking for will fall into place for you, it will locate you. Only don’t give up or lose hope.
• Kings Ndubuisi Onwe writes from Enugu