The cancer – violence against women in Nigeria

The recent spate in violence against women is troubling; ranging from domestic violence, rape, and the most recently in tow is the rise in ritual killings where girls are lured over to hotels by their boyfriends, killed and their body parts removed. Several arrests have been made on cases related to this but this response […]

The recent spate in violence against women is troubling; ranging from domestic violence, rape, and the most recently in tow is the rise in ritual killings where girls are lured over to hotels by their boyfriends, killed and their body parts removed.

Several arrests have been made on cases related to this but this response has done little in quelling the rise in the monstrous crime. Perhaps simple arrest of the criminals has proven abortive in relation to tackling the issue which calls for urgent solutions, thus, a sterner solution like a death sentence for ritualists and accomplices to serve as a deterrent to others.

The Nigerian government must open its eyes and find solutions to stopping this crime before it balloons into something we cannot handle. It must not joke with it like we joked with kidnapping and banditry and the slow rise of Boko Haram to power.  This first stage cancer must be dealt with now before it further advances.

As we move into the so-called Valentine month, the security agencies must heighten vigilance and girls too must learn to be careful about the kinds of men they pay attention to.

Sa’adatu Aliyu wrote through [email protected]