• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Vera Omozuwa: Human rights organisation pledges N500,000 for information leading to arrest of perpetrators

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Citizens’ Gavel, a nongovernmental organization has vowed to reward anyone with credible information and evidence that can lead to the arrest of perpetrators of the rape and murder of late Vera Omozuwa.

This is in a bid to contribute to concerted efforts towards demystifying the circumstances surrounding the vicious attack and untoward death of Omozuwa, a first-year student at the University of Benin, Edo State, who had gone to a place of worship to read where she was attacked and raped on the 28th of May, 2020.

“We are raising the sum of N500, 000 to pay anyone who has credible evidence that can lead to the arrest of perpetrators of the rape and murder of late Vera Omuzuwa. Anyone who provides such evidence shall remain anonymous for security reasons,” the organization said in a statement made available to BusinessDay.

This pledge follows a similar gesture by a popular cleric, Johnson Suleman, who promised double the amount to anyone willing to provide reliable information leading to the apprehension of those behind the act, and President Buhari’s “deepest condolences” to her family and order for a thorough investigation.

Founded with the aim of increasing the pace of justice delivery, promoting human rights, transparency and accountability, Citizens’ Gavel said a look at the series of unfolding cases of men forcefully having carnal knowledge of women and girls continues to indicate how our society is fast degenerating into a crime scene.

It stated that it is leveraging on its user-friendly mechanism and over 160 resource lawyers across 24 states in Nigeria, its Sexual and Gender-Based Violence unit in the past one year to give hundreds of victims/survivors a shot at justice.

“We sincerely commiserate with the family, colleagues, and friends of the deceased; however, it is pertinent that all efforts are combined to ensure justice prevails and the perpetrators are made to face the law,” the statement, signed by Taiwo Makanjuola, Communications Associate, Citizens’ Gavel, further reads.

While Nigerians are still seeking justice for Omozuwa, it appears these cries would last for a while as two other victims: a 13-year-old girl, known as Adama, and an 18-year-old Muslim lady, known as Barakat Bello, were allegedly raped on Tuesday in Enugu and Ibadan, respectively.

According to reports, Bello was alone at home when she was attacked by some men suspected to be armed robbers, who raped and killed her.

Like Omozuwa, Bello was also a first-year student of Federal College of Animal Health and Production in Ibadan.

The incident happened in Akinyele area of Ibadan.