Before I hit the hammer on the nail, driving into the heart of my subject, let me give a storied illustration. There are two houses in a street, opposite each other. One night, House A was raided by armed robbers who plundered the house without restraint. The following morning, residents of House decided to report the crime. Then some residents of House B appeared and spoke to the residents of House A up. Residents of house B then said:
Shut up. Stop talking about being raided. What about House B? Some of our residents were raided sometimes ago and nobody reported. Nobody talked about it. So, shut the hell up.
Now let me take the first turning to the subject. One has to be a soul from hell or a beast without a soul before one can openly say because he has been a victim and has not reported others who are victimized must not report. How has humanity degraded so fast? It is loathsome to see men try to shut women up from talking against ills done against their kind. Whenever a woman, or a girl, or a group of them attempts to speak on issues of great concern such as rape, domestic violence, uxoricide and other sexist inhumanity some men will begin to make apologetic or assailing rhetoric for the evil being discussed. That is not but sheer act of begging the question.
Uwa Omozuwa was a 22-year-old student at the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Edo State. Four men had reportedly injured her and raped her in a Redeemed Church in Benin, Edo State. She was said to have visited the church to read before she was assaulted. What is most ogrish is that some human beings or creatures in human flesh think the rape and murder case do not worth much outcry as the reason why she has visited the church. Some, like the bloody pharisaic anti-Christs who ranted against healing on a Sabbath, some men have begun to ask questions about reading in church other than why she was attacked, violated and left for dead. Uwa’s case is not about how seductive she dressed. Men still find fault in why she had to read in a church during lockdown. I agree there is a story untold, maybe. Then what is stopping investigation and prosecution of rapists? Reading in church?
In the same House A and House B illustration, when Christians cry out of being attacked by terrorists, Some Muslims will come out, not to condemn the act of terrorism but to shut people up from talking simply because, as they would say, Muslims too are also being victimized. Then Christians will feel should I sit down quietly and comfortable and not complain about being killed simply because Muslims to are being killed and did not talk about it or against it. Now, in that logic, Christian men and Muslim men and even the irreligious and the traditional men must learn that we are humans. Acts of inhumanity against humanity must be punished regardless of the gender, religion, ethnicity and class of the victim or of the offender.
We need to stand up for justice whenever we see evil regardless of gender or ethnicity. But we cannot because we are divided too deep on ‘us-versus-them’ maxims on bases of ethnicity, religion, gender and class. So, we first consider being lenitive with our side than being straight with justice.
Some men have misconstrued the acts of women speaking for themselves, seeking for humane society, as women declaring war on male kind. And at the perception of battle the senses are concerned about self preservation and countering. That is the default frame of mind of some men. This perceived gender battle makes them to dismiss any women-voicing-out as women warring men. I am not speaking for feminist. Bloody NO! I am speaking for humanity. The girl child, the lady, that woman, that mother, that wife, the female have rights as male do. We must begin to think human before we think gender battle. That applies to men only. For women, it is unwise to ask women to drop their cutlasses when men have not seen anything wrong in wielding sharpened swords or patriarchy against women.
Now we are back to the issue of rape. Rape, violent or not, by stranger or acquaintance, by anybody is an act of inhumanity. It is not just wicked to make excuses for rape or to shut people up for speaking against rape but also insane.
There is something wrong with a country that ignores threats on human lives. There is something wrong when hundreds of girls were abducted. There is something wrong when rape is ignored. Punishment, and sever one as fitting the crime is need as a deterrent to crimes. But it is easy for us to haste to arrest someone for blasphemy than it is to investigate rape and murder cases and prosecute offenders. We do not need to tell someone not to abuse Buhari before he learns not to. That is because there is going to be consequence for trying to think he has freedom of speech. But when there is no consequence for rape and murder reoccurrence at alarming rate is unstoppable. It seems crimes and justice have mixed and matched such that the law has to pretend oversight and let offence go unanswered for.
Covid-19 reveals the state of our health sector. But it is not only the Health sector that has been deplorable over the years. The justice system has also been abysmally deplorable. We have turned intentional deaf ears to the cries of farmers and villagers while armed herdsmen, foreigners or citizens, attack and kill them. We have turned intentional blind eyes to rape kidnappings and beheading of certain prominent figures. Who is safe? Since one CAN leader was captured and beheaded and nothing happened there is no deterrent, another is abducted in Nasarawa State. Who is safe?
Justice for Uwa we call. Justice for humanity we cry. And while we make the strong call I hope the powers that hold the gavels will not ignore until our voices slowly exhaust all sounds and seek another fresh case to cry over.
There are consequences for actions and inactions. I implore all children, and girls especially, all ladies especially to modify and adopt some measure of claustrophobia. Feel no male is sane when you are with him alone such that you become careless. In fact, never be in a place alone and never feel comfortable being in a room with a group of only guys. I know there are consequences of suspicion and boundaries. I know while we close eyes to let the evil men walk away the good men may walk away unnoticed –but our eyes would have escaped seeing evil and we would not have been traumatized. I know the head is tied to the tail and hair is tied to the toe. I know when the eyes cry the nose runs. But it is all consequences. The racist homicide long condoned is tearing the US apart and this is only a beginning of more to come as long as racism persists. It is time men rose to speak against domestic violence, rape and every form of inhumanity against our women except we are accomplices. There are consequences, often turning out unpredictable. As long as injustice persists, as long as what we call justice in Nigeria is selective class justice, as long as rape is not punished hastily and severely, as long as inhumanity against the female folk is seen as unworthy of attention, then our house sitting on timed bomb. It is going to blasts. Mariticide is just a tip. No stopping the fire except justice is enthroned. Any crime unpunished persists as a norm. #Justice for Uwa.