A human rights and good governance advocacy group – Make A Difference (MAD) has called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to declare a young man, (name withheld) wanted for his suspected involvement in the gang rape and murder of an undergraduate of University of Benin, Miss Vera Uwaila Omozuwa.
In an electronic statement issued by the Communication and Advocacy Director of MAD, Lemmy Ughegbe, the initiative said “by his own free will statement on his Facebook page, (the man) has admitted to knowing fully about the acts that led to Miss Vera Uwaila Omozuwa being raped and killed.”
In his reaction to a news report on Miss Omozuwa’s gruesome killing, (the man) posted on Facebook thus: “Good for her. Why will she be dating two room mates the same time?”
Following abuse and condemnation by other Facebook users ..for the said statement, he(the man) pulled down the post and deactivated the account.
However, the Communication and Advocacy Director of Make A Difference Initiative has argued that “(His) statement disclosed prima facie evidence, warranting the police high command to arrest him and investigate him for complicity in the gang rape and murder of Miss Omozuwa.”
“There should be no distinction between an apologist of the rapist and the rapist proper. At worst the apologist is an enabler of sexual violence and ought to be arrested, investigated and if need be, prosecuted for accessory before the fact of and conspiracy to commit murder”, Ughegbe stated.
“(The man) is vital to this investigation and must be smoked out of his hiding place to help with police investigation”, he added.
He noted how the Inspector General of Police had treated with levity cases of other sexual violence acts and rape and called on him to turn a new leaf.
Specifically, the group recalled the failure of the Police Chief to declare (another suspect) wanted for conspiring with his father to serially rape and sodomise Elizabeth Ochanya Ogbanje for five years until she died at age 13, owing to health complication as a result of long years of violation.
The alleged rapist has been on the run from the law for nearly two years following the death of Ochanya.
The man on the run was initially charged alongside his father, for rape and culpable homicide. But the charge was severed following his disappearance to enable the trial of his father proceed.
The initiative urged the police chief to show that he fully supports efforts to create a safe environment for children and other vulnerable members of the society by leaving no stone unturned in bringing the culprits to book..
