– IGP Orders Strengthening of Police Gender-Based Unit

Rasaq AbdulKareem/

Detectives investigating the rape and murder of an undergraduate student of University of Benin (UNIBEN), Uwaila Omozuwa, have held a suspect today after analysing fingerprints found on a weapon used to smash the head of the girl.

Uwaila was attacked by unknown persons in the auditorium of a Redeemed Christian Church of God parish in Benin, Edo State, on May 28.

Her assailants reportedly hit her on the head with a fire extinguisher as a result of which she went into a coma.

She was confirmed dead at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital on May 30. She never regained consciousness.

Spokesman of Edo State Police Command, Chidi Nwabuzor, said a suspect was arrested after the fingerprint on the fire extinguisher used in attacking the victim was examined. He added that the suspect was arrested near the place of the incident.

“The item used in the assault, which was a fire extinguisher, was recovered, after which the operatives, who were with some specialists, screened the fingerprints. This led to the arrest of our suspect,” he said.

Following the outcry that greeted the incident, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had drafted forensic experts to Edo State to assist with the investigation.

Adamu has also ordered the immediate transfer of the investigations from the State Headquarters of the Police, in Benin to the Force Headquarters, Abuja.

The IGP’s directive followed the preliminary report from the team of investigators and forensic experts earlier deployed to assist the Edo State Police Command in the investigations.

The spokesman for the Nigeria Police Force, DCP Frank Mba, disclosed in a statement that the DIG in charge of the Force Criminal Investigations Department (FCID), Mr Anthony Ogbizi Michael will henceforth provide direct supervision and ensure a speedy and thorough investigation of the case.  

Mba stated: “In a similar vein, the IGP has ordered the immediate deployment of specialized investigators and additional investigation assets to all the Gender Desks Offices and the Juvenile Welfare Centres (JWC) across the country. This is to strengthen and enhance the capacity of the Units to respond to increasing challenges of sexual assaults and domestic/gender-based violence linked with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and other social ills within the country.

“Meanwhile, the IGP has called on members of the public to provide the police useful information that could aid investigations into ongoing cases of sexual assaults and domestic/gender-based violence across the country. He also enjoins parents and guardians to pay closer attention to their children and wards in these trying times.”