By Agbelusi Ganiyu
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The internet world was jammed with a stunning and inhuman treatment meted to a young lady in Benin by some people who accused her of having stolen the phone of one of them after he had had carnal knowledge of her in a hotel in the Edo state capital.

The story went further that the quest for the solution to the riddle of the phone theft led them to a local herbalist who said she was the one who stole the phone despite her stoic denial of the phone.

  From there, the group of about five men decided to take more actions despite her vehement denial. A trial by ordeal ensued.  She was tied up, rendered stark naked, beaten and had pepper inserted inside her genital organ despite her plea of innocence.

To worsen her ordeal, all these inhuman treatments meted out on her were recorded and sent out to the whole world. Hardly can somebody with human milk flowing round his body watch the video clip without betraying emotion.

  This type of inhuman and heartless jungle justice ought to be a thing of the past and should not be heard of in Nigeria of today where there are law enforcement agencies to handle this type of situation properly instead of people taking laws into their hands. Hence, the culprits must not only be found at all cost, but commensurate justice must be meted out to all those involved in this degrading act.

It will be appreciated if all women organizations take the fight as theirs, not only because we all need to protect the dignity and sanctity of human life but, as parents, it should be seen as “an injury to one, is an injury to all” After all, nobody knows who their next victim will be. Thus a very stiff penalty will serve as deterrent to others. Women lawyers should be ready to volunteer their professional assistance to the poor girl so inhumanly treated.  National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) should also take up the responsibility of ensuring that the matter is not swept under the carpet.

Her Excellency, Mrs Betty Anyanwu Akeredolu, who is noted for her pity and humane feelings for the poor and downtrodden people in the society is hereby urged to use her pet project, FOWOSO, not only to get justice for the debased lady but also help in rehabilitating her. This can be done directly or through her Edo State counterpart.

The perpetrators of these wicked actions who publicly paraded themselves and their evil deeds should be announced accordingly, preferably on the television on prime viewing time while newspapers should splash their pictures on their pages as deterrent to others.

Parents should also be more up and doing in the upbringing of their children by taking proper care of them. The moral aspect of parental responsibilities must not be compromised with the ever gaping societal needs.

To be frank and sincere, many parents are these days shirking in this highly important role to the detriment of their children and wards. Who knows whether the girl would not have fallen into the web of these miscreants if gainfully employed as she would not have had any need to sell her virtue for monetary gain.

Our governments at various levels must thus open the doors for employment opportunities so that the devil will not keep them busy at the detriment of the larger populace.

Our law enforcement agencies, especially the police should strive to get more confidence and positive image from the members of the public so that they will be bold to report such cases without resorting to barbaric actions when it is sure that they will get justice.

 Never again must rapists be allowed to savour their wickedness but rather keep regretting their action for the rest of their lives, if they survive the long spell in prison.