On the 4th of September 2024, Christianah Idowu’s story broke the Internet. The hashtag “#JusticeforChristianah” trending across top social media platforms, especially X (formerly known as Twitter). The 21-year-old was murdered by her childhood friend and neighbour, Ayomide Adeleye who feigned a kidnap after killing her in a bid to extort her widowed mother.

Christianah was a 300 Level student of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB), who was declared missing on August 19, 2024, after she left her home and headed to her Industrial Training location, somewhere in Yaba, Lagos State. Events took a different turn when it started raining and she decided to seek shelter in her friend’s home. Unknown to her, that “harmless friend” would eventually try to forcefully have sex with her, according to multiple reports and kill her for rejecting him. He would then allegedly go on to take a picture of her, making it look like she was alive and in his custody, requesting for ransom from her mother.

Christianah’s story completed 76 recorded cases of femicide in Nigeria this year, the key word here being recorded. It could be much more if all cases were reported and recorded from rural villages to urban cities. In 2022, the United Nations registered 89,000 cases of intentional killing of women and girls worldwide. Fifty-five percent of these murders were committed by former intimate partners or perpetrated by actors in the victim’s environment. While the registered cases in the year 2022 appear extremely high, a significant forty percent remain unaccounted for on the United Nation’s report – they are not categorised as gender-related killings due to variations in criminal justice recording and investigation practices.

Only a few days before Christianah’s story made rounds, In Ebonyi state, 14-year-old Mercy Vangervihi was brutally raped and almost killed by her 15-year-old neighbor, Goodluck Bison, who is reported to be in military custody and awaiting trial. In another recent and disturbing incident, Jeremiah Paul was apprehended on the 4th of September along with Emmanuel Otitoju, Banabas Olugbenga and Ajayi Basit Ayomide in connection with the murder of 19-year-old Damilola Olowoyo a 100 level student at the Federal University Lokoja. Jeremiah Paul had confessed to strangling her to death after spiking her drink and disembering her body for the purpose of rituals when she was confirmed dead. He also received a sum of four hundred thousand naira from her parents as ransom for her kidnap.

The stories of Christianah Idowu, Mercy Vangervihi, Damilola Olowoyo and so many other reported and unreported cases leave a bitter taste and an underlying need to address the issue of femicide in Nigeria. The fact that the perpetrators of these crimes were individuals known and probably trusted by their victims, emphasises the importance of addressing violence against women in every aspect of society including family, workplace, and in schools. Indeed, nowhere can ever be completely safe, but we can do better.