The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Enoch Adeboye, on Sunday, reacted to the reported rape and subsequent death of a University of Benin (UNIBEN) undergraduate, Vera Omozuwa.
The crime reportedly took place inside a hall of one of the parishes of the RCCG on Ikpoba Hill, Benin city.
Mr Adeboye, in a statement posted on his official Facebook page late Sunday, commiserated with the family and also said the RCCG management would cooperate fully with the police to unravel the crime and arrest the perpetrators.
PREMIUM TIMES quoted the police in Edo State as saying “they are searching for people who might have witnessed the assault that led to the death of a female student of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Edo State.”
Preliminary reports indicate that the victim, a 100-level student, was beaten inside a hall in the said parish, where she had gone to study.
The 23-year-old died on May 31, 18 days after, at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital.
“As at the day of the incident, she was in a coma, so the police could not obtain a statement from her on what happened,” the police spokesperson in Edo, Chidi Nwabuzor, told PREMIUM TIMES, Sunday evening.
“It’s unfortunate that no person is coming out as an eyewitness (witness) to give (an) account of what happened,” he added.
The university had earlier expressed shock at the development.
RCCG reacts
“All I can do at this time is to pray for the family of Omozuwa and do everything possible working with relevant authorities to bring the perpetrators to book,” Mr Adeboye, a former lecturer, said. “I and members of my family condemn this act strongly and urge everyone to stay calm as we are already looking into the matter and cooperating with the police to establish the facts of the shocking situation… #justiceforuwa.”
The hashtag, #justiceforuwa is currently trending on social media networks with hundreds of Nigerians calling for an efficient investigation and arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.
Sexual assault, rape and murder are prominent crimes security operatives in Nigeria continue to battle weekly in many states across the country.
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