A Preventable Death: The Institutional Failure That Delivered Uloma To Her Killer

The System Killed Her Too

NIGERIA has witnessed yet another preventable tragedy—one that exposes, yet again, the lethal consequences of police negligence, cultural complacency, and a justice system that routinely sacrifices victims of gender-based violence at the altar of “family settlement.”

Nineteen-year-old Uloma Nwangwu walked into the Umabor Divisional Police Headquarters on 28 November seeking what every citizen deserves: protection from danger and justice against a predator. Instead, the state handed her back to a man she feared would kill her—because he said he would. Three days later, he did.

This is not a crime of passion. This is a crime of systemic collapse.

She Reported a Crime. The Police Reported Back With Excuses

Uloma’s account was not ambiguous. She told officers—on video—that her uncle, 51-year-old Emeka Nwangwu, had raped her for years, imprisoned her in his home, threatened to kill her entire family, and warned that “the police will not do anything to me.”

He was right.

The police admitted he confessed to the crimes. Yet instead of arresting him, they allowed the matter to be “resolved” after the family opted for spiritual cleansing—a practice that has become a dangerous substitute for justice in many communities.

Even worse, the suspect was a member of the Neighbourhood Watch Group, the very institution expected to keep communities safe. Rather than interrogate that conflict of interest, the police folded their arms.

The Fatal Cost of Cultural Mediation in Violent Crimes

The police spokesperson later justified their inaction by citing the family’s reluctance to “prosecute” due to the incestuous nature of the crime. But incest does not erase rape. Cultural discomfort does not override the law. And family shame cannot supersede the rights and safety of a victim.

Gender-based violence is not a civil dispute. It is a criminal offence—and a public safety threat.

Nationwide, families routinely settle rape, abuse and defilement cases with apologies, compensation, or religious rites. Too often, police officers permit—or even encourage—this approach. It is a deadly dereliction of duty.

Uloma’s death is not an isolated misfortune. It is the logical end point of a system that negotiates with predators.

A Confession Ignored, A Life Abandoned

By the time Uloma ran through a bush path back to her father’s home, neighbours openly recording her fear, her abuser had threatened her too many times to count. She had escaped only after unlocking the room where she was held captive. But even then, the system offered her no protection.

On Monday—just three days after her police visit—Mr. Nwangwu stormed into a pharmacy where Uloma was receiving treatment and butchered her. Only then did the police arrest him.

Nigeria must stop pretending this is unfortunate. It is predictable.

Experts Agree: The Police Violated the Law

Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong is unequivocal:

“The police have no power to abandon a criminal case because a family declines to pursue it. Crimes are committed against the state.”

Former NBA Abuja chairman Bulus Atsen calls it what it is: professional negligence. He argues that the officers who handled Uloma’s report should be held liable, because their failure led directly to her death.

Another senior lawyer, Kingsley Awuka, notes that a confessional statement alone is often enough to secure conviction in court. Yet the police treated the case like a family quarrel.

No institution can claim to fight crime while ignoring confessions of rape and attempted murder.

Where Were the Oversight Institutions?

It is not only the police who failed Uloma. Lawyers point out that the state’s attorney-general has the constitutional responsibility to prosecute crimes, even without a formal petition from a victim.

Both institutions remained silent until the crime escalated from repeated rape to murder.

An Urgent Call for Institutional Reckoning

Uloma’s case is the clearest possible indictment of the system:

• The police failed to act on a confession.

• The family failed to protect their daughter.

• The community accepted “mediation” for a criminal offence.

• The justice apparatus failed to intervene.

• A known abuser and confessed threat-maker was left free.

Three days later, a young woman was dead.

This country cannot claim to care about gender-based violence while allowing officers to negotiate rape cases in back rooms. It cannot claim to value human life while letting predators walk free after confessing. It cannot continue a culture where victims are blamed, silenced, or spiritually “cleansed” instead of protected.

The Real Question

How many more people must die before Nigeria treats rape and domestic imprisonment as the crimes they are—not family embarrassments to be hidden, not disputes to be settled, not offences to be negotiated?

The Verdict

Uloma was killed by her uncle’s violence. But she was also killed by police negligence. By institutional apathy. By cultural silence. By a justice system that still believes some crimes belong in the shrine, not the courtroom.

Nigeria must decide whether it wants justice—or tradition masquerading as justice.

Until then, more victims will walk into police stations seeking help and walk back out toward their deaths.