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Three committees of
the House of Representatives, which investigated the death of Grace
Ushang, the former corps member who was killed last year in Bornu
State, have recommended that her family be paid N20 million.

The House
committees on Women Affairs, Human Rights and Women in Parliament,
which conducted investigations into Miss Ushang’s tragic death, say the
Borno State government should pay the amount to her family as
compensation.

In the reports of
inquiry, which have been presented to the House for consideration, and
were obtained exclusively by NEXT, the committees said the N2 million
earlier offered by the Bornu State government, “was not sufficient”.
The recommendations are not yet final, since they are yet to be
discussed by the House’s general assembly.

“Stakeholders were
in agreement that the Bornu State government had not done anything
tangible to compensate the family of the deceased,” the committees
noted in reference to the public hearing they conducted on the case
last year. “They were of the opinion that N2 million was not
sufficient.” The eight-point recommendation says the late Miss Ushang,
who was alleged to have been raped and attacked to death by unknown
persons, be given a posthumous national award while the House monitors
the progress of compliance.

The report has left
out any direct punitive measures against any person or organization,
but notes with the police, that investigations are ongoing. Binta
Garba, a member who represents Adamawa State and who heads the Women
Affairs committee, said two weeks ago that the discussions were delayed
because of the House consideration of the constitution amendments.

But officials conversant with the House orders of investigation, say if there are changes, they will likely by minimal.

Gender Rights group
have dismissed the report as leaving out key elements which were
canvassed for, namely advising on penalties against security agents who
they argue have not acted enough to forestall a repeat of the incident.

Mma Wokocha, the
National President of Medical Women Association of Nigeria, said the
recommendation has sustained the notion that “money is everything” and
vowed to raise the issue beyond the lawmakers’ investigations if they
were eventually approved by the House.

“Even if the
parents are satisfied, we are not satisfied because that is not what we
fought for,” said Ms Wokocha, who was present at the House hearing. “We
will like to take this up. We need to know what happened and we need to
bring the culprits to book.” At the hearing, Ms Wokocha, a
gynaecologist, and other rights group representatives, condemned the
police report which ruled out rape as the cause of death. They
dismissed the police post mortem report which the police admitted was
conducted by NYSC doctors.

The groups and some
lawmakers urged the house committees to order a fresh autopsy to aid
investigations. But the report did not mention that.

Protect the youth corps members

In the remaining
parts of the recommendation, it says corps members should be posted to
only organizations that can provide for their safety.

It also advised
that corps members be properly educated about security measures and
should be armed with “simple security devices that can raise alarm if
they are attacked”. Adequate provisions should also be made for them to
avoid deprivation which can expose them to attacks, the report also
recommended.

Ada Agina-Ude,
Executive Director of Gender and Development Action (GDA), whose
organization was also present at the House hearing, said while the GDA
may not be concerned so much with penalties, the committee’s work was
too silent on finding the culprits.

“What should be
done is to underscore that the police do their jobs well. They should
be given time limits to find the killers,” she said.

Country Vice
President, International Federation of Female Lawyers, Ezinwa Okoroafor
urged for a report that will be effective in dealing with a repeat of
the incident.

“I commend the
committee for their steps, but the important thing should be about
forestalling a recurrence,” said the group’s Ms Ushang, 25, from Obudu
in Cross River State, was found dead in Maiduguri on September 26,
2009, while serving as a youth corps member in Bornu State. Reports,
later disputed by the police, said she was attacked, raped and killed
in a local neighbourhood of the state because she dressed in the NYSC
trouser kit.

“The case of Grace
Ushang should be treated urgently, as it is a great threat to our
nation’s unity and the NYSC scheme,” the lawmakers noted in conclusion.