Amnesty International reacts to Nigerian govt.’s handling of femicide cases

Amnesty International has expressed worry over the poor handling of femicide cases, the killing of a woman or girl, in particular by a man and on account of her gender, in Nigeria.

The global rights group expressed its displeasure over the trend in a series of tweets on its verified X handle in reaction to the killing of Christianah Idowu, a 300-level student of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, South-west Nigeria.

The group also said that the incident mirrors a crucial need for authorities in Nigeria to direct attention towards femicide prevention and the need to establish investigative units to track and prosecute cases.

”The brutal killing of Christianah Idowu, a 300 Level student of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), by her friend highlights the urgent need for the Nigerian authorities to effectively address femicide.

”Slow pace of investigation and prosecution of recent femicide cases across Nigeria is worrying. We urge the security agencies to develop and establish femicide investigation expertise and units,” parts of the post read.

According to the organisation, Nigerian authorities have, over the years, failed to facilitate justice for the victims of femicide.

It said the inaction leads to increased violations of the rights of women.

“In almost all recent cases of femicide in #Nigeria, the authorities do not rigorously pursue all lines of inquiry, and their failure further endangers women’s human rights to life and physical safety,” it said.

Abduction, murder

Ms Idowu was reportedly abducted along the Ikorodu-Yaba Road, Lagos in August.

The police have identified Ayomide Adeleye, a 200-level philosophy student at Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) in Ogun State, as the prime suspect.

According to the Punch newspaper, the deceased was kidnapped sometime last week when she left her Ikorodu home to the University of Lagos, where she was undergoing industrial training.

The kidnappers were said to have made contact with the victim’s family and demanded N3 million as a ransom for her release.

A family source told the newspaper that the abductors communicated their demand for N3 million ransom through the victim’s Whatsapp number. “We appealed to them, and it was reduced to N1 million, then N500,000, and later they asked us to pay N350,000,” the family source said.

READ ALSO: #JusticeForChristianah: Police not aware of FUNAAB student kidnapped, murdered in Lagos

“After we paid the N350,000 ransom, they refused to release her, and they were demanding that we send the bank statement of the account we made the transfer from before they would release her to us.”

Police speak

In a later development, Benjamin Hundeyin, the police spokesperson in Lagos State, confirmed the incident. The news of the incident has gone viral on social media, prompting an online campaign for justice using different hashtags, including #JusticeForChristianah.

“23-year-old Ayomide Adeleye has been handed over to @LagosPoliceNG by 9 Brigade @HQNigerianArmy. The handover took place today, September 5, 2024, at about 1400hrs. Investigation is ongoing,” Mr Hundeyin wrote on X.