How police negligence, family’s inaction led to death of woman sexually abused by uncle

When Uloma Nwangwu visited the Umabor Divisional Police Headquarters in Enugu State on 28 November, she was full of hope that the police would help end years of sexual abuse by her uncle and then save her life. 

But she was wrong!

Her uncle, Emeka Nwangwu, had been sexually abusing her and threatening to kill her and all her family members if she dared to speak out or escape from his house.

Mr Nwangwu, 51, had locked her up in his house in Ibeku-Opi in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State.

The 19-year-old was at the police facility to report the matter in the hope of ending the sexual violence and secure her life.

“He (the suspect) said that if I go back to my father’s house in Enugu Ezike, that he will kill me and kill my mother, my brother schooling in Abuja and even our first born,” Uloma told the police in a video clip circulating on Facebook. 

“He (the uncle) said the police would not do anything to him,” she added.

Before the incident, Uloma had been living with the suspect since 2019 after he lost his wife. She was 13 at the time she began living with him.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the deceased had made several unsuccessful attempts to escape from her uncle’s house over the persistent sexual abuses.

Those familiar with her story say Uloma had been compelled to abort a number of pregnancies which resulted from the sexual abuse. But this newspaper could not independently verify this.

From police to family house

Another clip was recorded along a bushy path by residents who saw Uloma running to her father’s house in Enugu Ezike, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of the state. 

In the clip, she admitted that she decided to run to her family house when Mr Nwangwu stepped out.

Uloma said she escaped after she used a spare key to open the room where she was locked up by the suspect.

She reiterated that her decision to run to her family house was because of the persistent sexual abuses and threats by her uncle, who is a member of the Neighbourhood Watch Group in the area.

She stressed that Mr Nwangwu had threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the sexual abuses.

Killed despite seeking police help, protection

Rape and threat to life are criminal offences in Nigeria. Both offences are separately outlawed in the country’s Criminal Code Act.

While rape offenders face life imprisonment upon conviction, individuals convicted for threat to life face seven years imprisonment, according to Section 323 of the Act.

These are among the offences which Uloma alleged Mr Nwangwu committed against her.

But rather than arrest Mr Nwangwu and prosecute him, police kept mute.

Police authorities admitted in a statement issued on Tuesday that the suspect confessed to his alleged crime at the police facility and even pleaded for forgiveness.

On Monday,  exactly three days after Uloma reported Mr Nwangwu to the police, the suspect forced his way into a pharmacy shop in Nsukka where she was receiving treatment and killed her.

The same day, police operatives arrested the suspect. But that was after he carried out his threats of killing the victim.

In the statement on Tuesday, Daniel Ndukwe, the police spokesperson in Enugu State, justified the failure of the police to prosecute the suspect after the deceased initially reported to them.

“The suspect and family were invited to the station, where he confessed, sought forgiveness, and promised to return her ‘property.’

“The family, citing personal ties, initially chose not to prosecute the case but opted for spiritual cleansing due to the incestuous and abominable act against the victim,” said Mr Ndukwe, a superintendent of police.

Lawyers speak

Lawyers who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES in separate interviews say although the family failed to act appropriately, the police ought to have prosecuted the matter given their statutory obligation to prosecute suspected criminals.

A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, told this newspaper on Thursday that the police do not have the power under any law in Nigeria not to prosecute criminal offences on the basis of a complainant’s unwillingness to pursue the case.

“This is because a crime is primarily committed against the state. Therefore, the government has a responsibility to prosecute crimes of such nature irrespective of what the direct victims said,” Mr Effiong said.

“So the police refusing to investigate the matter because the family did not show willingness to pursue it is unacceptable.

“They (police) ought to have arrested him, gotten the victim to make a statement and gathered the necessary evidence and ensured his prosecution,” he stated.

“The police do not require the consent of the family to discharge their responsibility of fighting crime,” Mr Effiong added.

The Lagos-based lawyer called for punishment of the police officers who received the report from the victim before she was killed.

“The police hierarchy should ensure that the officers involved in the matter are sanctioned for professional misconduct,” he said.

Another lawyer, Bulus Atsen, faulted the police for failure to investigate and prosecute the alleged serial rapist despite earlier receiving complaints against the suspect.

Mr Atsen, a former chairperson of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja, said the suspect should now be immediately prosecuted for his criminal offences.

The lawyer argued that beyond the prosecution of the suspect, the officers who got the complaint initially should “be held liable for professional negligence” by encouraging mediation in the matter.

“(This is) because they ought to have prosecuted the matter to the letter to achieve three things: justice for the victim, prevention of the recurrence of such abuse and keeping the society safe,” he explained.

Mr Atsen said holding the officers liable would prevent others from taking the same path in similar cases.

He further stressed that the matter was a case of gender based violence and that, in such cases, many communities commit the error of mediating between the victims and the offenders.

“In many cases, the police allow it. That in itself is wrong.

“Quite a number of non governmental organisations, like Partners West Africa Nigeria, have been advocating strongly against encouraging mediation in cases of gender based violence because it does not end the abuse, but gives the abuse an opportunity to fester,” he said.

On his part, Kingsley Awuka, another lawyer, told PREMIUM TIMES that the police “have the primary duty of investigating and prosecuting crime” citing the Nigeria Police Act 2020.

Mr Awuka, a former NBA chairperson in Anambra State, said the police can only refuse to prosecute a matter when they investigate and find no evidence against a suspect or direct victims decline to give evidence.

The lawyer said the confessional statement reportedly made by the suspect to the police could have been used to prosecute him.

“If the police obtained a confessional statement from the man that he committed the offences. The police could have filed a charge and tendered the confessional statement. And it is sufficient to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.

“It is in law that a confessional statement is enough to convict an offender,” the lawyer stated.

Mr Awuka noted that, when police fail in their role, private individuals and organisations can obtain an order of mandamus from the court which will compel them to investigate and prosecute crime.

On the killing of Uloma, he said the police are expected to investigate and revert to the attorney-general of the state.

The lawyer argued that both the police and the state’s attorney-general deserve blame for failing to prosecute the suspect after the victim complained against him.

“The attorney-general has the right to prosecute every case no matter how minor the case is,” he said.

Police silent

The police spokesperson in Enugu State, Mr Ndukwe, did not respond to calls and a text message seeking his comments on the police negligence.