#JusticeForUwa, Nigerians Demand Answers for Student Killed in Church

Nigerians are fed up with the prevalent and continued gender-based violence in the country and are rallying online under the banner of #JusticeForUwa. Those who are on the ground have already begun to mobilise crowds in order to protest. Recently, 22-year-old student Vera Omozuwa was murdered last week in a Benin City church. Omozuwa, who was studying microbiology at the University of Benin, was reportedly attacked by a group of men and subsequently succumbed to her injuries in a hospital three days later.

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Many have called on the government and those involved in the investigation of Omozuwa's murder to ensure that justice is served for her, her family and the hundreds of women who continue to experience violence at the hands of men.

What does remain unclear, however, is how Omozuwa was brutally attacked in a church during broad daylight without anyone coming to her aid.

Commenting on gender-based violence in Nigeria, Amnesty International released the following statement:

"While the nation is still coming to terms with this gross violation, in Jigawa state 11 men were arrested for raping a 12-year old girl at Limawa in Dutse, the state capital. Although rape is a crime in Nigeria government's response to it continues to be, woefully inadequate...Rising cases of rape across Nigeria is a result of the failure of law enforcement to ensure that rapists face justice. We are deeply concerned that perpetrators of rape in Nigeria invariably escape punishment."

The death of Omozuwa came just a day after 16-year-old Tina Ezekwe was reportedly shot by a stray bullet after two police officers fired shots during an unconfirmed incident in Lagos. Although the teenager was rushed to the hospital, she died two days later, according to Nigeria's Premium Times.

Last year, hundreds of Nigerian women took to the streets in protest following a spate of murders that took the lives of eight women in various Port Harcourt hotels.

Below are just some of the posts in support of the movement: