‘We can now sleep’ – Hardcore serial rapist arrested in Nigeria

A serial rapist has been arrested in Kano State, Nigeria by the police for allegedly raping 40 people in a space of one year in a town. According to police spokesperson, Abdullahi Haruna, a mother caught the man in the northern town of Dangora in her children’s bedroom.

The police have revealed after their investigations that his attacks on innocent women included children as young as 10 years old and an 80-year-old woman.

Ahmadu Yau, the chief of the town, was relieved the suspect, who is yet to be identified, had been caught for the law to take its own course. “People of Dangora are so happy at this time and we hope justice will be served appropriately,” he said.

Most residents have been living in fear not knowing when they or anyone they knew would be attacked. According to reports, the residents said there were rumours that a serial rapist was climbing fences and raping women in their own homes. “We can now sleep with our two eyes closed,” a woman said.

Many Nigerians are calling out injustices meted out to women. There have been several incidents of women being raped and killed and the people say they have had enough. Thousands have signed petitions while parading the hashtag #WeAreTired on social media, BBC reported.

A survey published by NOIPolls in 2019 indicates that one out of three girls living in Nigeria may have been raped or experienced at least one form of sexual assault before the age of 25. Most of the cases, however, go unreported.

This is because repercussions of people victimising the victims and their families, the fear of being called liars, police extortion and lack of trust in the country’s judicial system and processes are the many reasons why victims never speak up.

In addition, Nigerians took to Twitter and other social media platforms to demand justice for the murder of Uwavera Omozuwa, a 22-year-old student of the University of Benin. She was allegedly raped and attacked in church where she went to study and died three days after.

Uwa’s family is also pleading to the authorities to find the perpetrators of this tragic incident, and they are appealing to the public to help track down the killers. She wanted to be a nurse and had just started her first year in the University of Benin as a microbiology student.

Omozuwa often frequented the church in her neighborhood whenever she wanted somewhere quiet to read or study. Local news outlets reported that a group of men allegedly entered the church, raped her, and hit her head with a fire extinguisher.

A woman from the Redeemed Christian Church of God called the family to inform them of the attack. She was taken to the hospital after a security guard found her at the church with her skirt torn and her shirt covered in blood.

There is so much unrest in the world and many people have decided that sitting on the fence and letting injustices go unnoticed is not an option, hence an era of protests both in the streets and on the internet is ongoing all over, which is forcing power to account.