Vera Uwaila Omozuwa, a 22-year-old microbiology student, sought the quiet of her empty church in Benin City, southern Nigeria, as a place to study. Hours later she was raped and killed in a crime that has sparked outrage across Nigeria. Police have launched an investigation amid an avalanche of calls from rights groups, public figures and government officials demanding a thorough inquiry. On Monday, a group of protesters dressed in black, including students from the university, marched to the state police headquarters in Benin City to demand justice for Uwa. According to Ufuoma Akpobi, part of the Association Against Child Sexual and Gender-Based Violence network in Edo state, Uwa had studied at the church for the past three years because there’s no public library in the area. Last year, campaigners hailed the launch of Nigeria’s first sex offender register as a vital step towards tackling sexual violence. A publicly accessible online register of people prosecuted for violence since 2015 allows public bodies and police authorities to conduct background checks and identify repeat offenders.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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