SIR: On Thursday April 29, 2021, Nigeria’s social media space was saturated with the tragic news of the gruesome murder of Iniubong Umoren, a fresh graduate of the University of Uyo, who was raped and killed by a 20-year-old alleged serial killer Uduak Akpan. She had gone for a fake job interview in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital only to be raped, murdered and subsequently buried in a shallow grave.
A myriad of angry reactions trailed her tragic death. On social media, the hashtag #JusticeForIniubong was launched on Twitter. Nigerians expressed shock, sadness, and the news was greeted with condemnation. Just like every other case, the outcry was loud and for some hours, it became a national issue.
In December 2021, a video of a pre-teen boy, Sylvester Oromoni surfaced online. In the video footage, he was seen writhing in pain and struggling for his life. A few days later, the news broke out that he died. There were claims that Sylvester was beaten and fed a liquid chemical that led to his death. Again, the social media went haywire.
Fast forward to Saturday, February 26, Bamise Ayanwole, a 22-year-old lady went missing on the Lagos State Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) after she boarded the bus while on her way back from work, and heading to her elder brother’s house. Few days later, she was found dead.
It is a common social tradition to seek justice with hashtags on issues like this. The hashtag trends for a few hours to a few days, and gradually withers down. The victim/family of the victim gets no justice and the case dies slowly.
All Iniobong needed was a job. And Bamise planned to arrive at his brother’s house safely after a hectic day at work. And young Sylvester aspired to be a pilot. But their dreams were cut short by evil perpetrators.
The real difficulty however is getting justice in the country. The justice system in Nigeria needs a complete overhaul. The #EndSARS social demonstration further exposed the Nigerian judicial system as one of the weakest in the world. Imagine protesters seeking justice against police brutality being brutalized the more – the same thing they protested against.
There are many other cases that we do not eventually hear of after some time. They are many rape victims who do not get justice. The cases are swept under the carpet and are forgotten about after days of social media outcry. We do not need to continue like this if we truly practice democracy.
Iniubong, Sylvester, Bamise, and many others are gone but the pain remains permanently in the heart of the loved ones they left behind. Like Tessa wrote: “Without justice, we cannot have peace.” Surely, there is no peace in Nigeria.
- Bright Okuta,
<brightokuta@gmail.com>