DOHS Cares Foundation (Document Our History), a women and children-focused advocacy group, has urged the Enugu State Police Command to identify and sanction its officers who ignored the sexual abuse reported by late Uloma Nwangwu.
Uloma, now deceased, had reported sexual abuse by her uncle, Emeka Nwangwu, at the Umabor Divisional Police Headquarters in Enugu State on 28 November.
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According to reports, her complaints were taken casually, and the police failed to take action to protect her.
The advocacy group, in a statement on Friday, demanded accountability for the victim, describing her case as femicide.
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“The murder of Loveth Uloma Nwangwu is not just a personal tragedy, it is a profound indictment of a system that repeatedly fails to protect girls and women from violence,” the statement reads.
“Loveth did everything a survivor is expected to do: she reported sexual abuse, abduction, isolation, and threats to life to the Enugu State Police Command, Umabor Division, yet the institutions charged with her protection failed her catastrophically.
“Uloma’s death is a clear case of femicide: the intentional killing of a woman because she is female, and it represents a disturbing pattern of state-enabled violence, where negligence, indifference, and systemic impunity become tools of oppression.”
Backstory
The murder suspect, Mr Nwangwu, a 50-year-old security man, was said to have attacked the victim, Uloma, on 28 November at a pharmacy shop before she died.
He was eventually arrested by the Enugu State police.
The police spokesperson, Daniel Ndukwe 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,” said Mr Ndukwe, a superintendent of police.
“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.
“Tragically, while receiving treatment at a pharmacy in Nsukka, the suspect forced his way in, assaulted her, and struck her head repeatedly on the floor, causing fatal injuries,” he said.
Demands
The women’s advocacy group linked the police’s inaction to a broader pattern of state-enabled violence and impunity.
According to DOHS Cares “every adult who minimised her suffering helped pave the way to her death.
“She should be alive today if her community and family weren’t silent on her abuse,” the group said.
The group called for the review of the murder suspect charges to include sexual abuse and an investigation into how the suspect was cleared to serve in a security outfit.
They sought swift justice for the deceased and urged the government to review all domestic and sexual violence case handling.
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