The House of Representatives has urged the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to take immediate action in addressing the alarming cases of young girls being killed in Nigeria for ritualistic reasons.
According to The PUNCH, this call came after the adoption of a motion brought forth by the representative of Adoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency in Rivers State, Mr. Awaji-Inombek Abiante.
During his presentation, Abiante highlighted the disturbing trend of young female undergraduates falling victim to ritualistic murders committed by individuals who were supposed to be their boyfriends.
He particularly cited the tragic case of 20-year-old Justina Otuene, a student in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Port Harcourt, who was killed by Damian Okoligwe, also a student at the same university.
He also recalled the murder of Augusta Osedion, “a final year student of Lead City University in July 2023 by her boyfriend, Benjamin Best, who goes by the nickname Killaboi in Lagos; the murder of Miss Oghenefejiro Ochuko, a final year student of Ambrose Alli University, who was equally killed in August 2023 by her boyfriend; Victor Ochonogor in Benin and several other unreported cases.”
He said it was disturbing that “these killings take similar patterns of dismembering the bodies of the victims whereby their vital organs are removed and that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are young boys who might not be working alone but with strong cartels.”
The House called on the Inspector General of police “to set up a crack team to conduct a holistic investigation with the sole aim of unmasking the cartels behind these killings and bring them to justice.”
