Ushang: What a Waste

Comfort Obi

When I first read the story of the murder of Grace Ushang, a Youth Corper posted to Borno State for the mandatory one year service to her fatherland, I found it unbelievable. It is not that Youth Corpers don’t die while in service. They do. In fact, I have always advised youths embarking on their National Youth Service to be very careful. They are at their most vulnerable in life. On at least one occasion, a Youth Corper had gone missing, and has not been found till date. In Plateau State, during the ethno-religious riot of 2008, three male youth corpers, all of South west origin, were heartlessly butchered to death. Yet, the murder of Ushang on September 26 tugs at the heart. Nobody has said where Ushang went wrong, or what she did wrong. But briefly, the story is this:
On the evening of September 26, at about 6.30 p.m, Ushang, a 25-year-old graduate of the University of Calabar, had gone out to look for where to buy food around the area she lived. For Youth Corpers, looking for what to eat in a strange area can be frustrating. When I did my youth service in Bauchi State, I almost died of constipation within the first two weeks of my arrival. The food was not the type I was used to. Each time I took it, my stomach did a somersault, and revolted violently. So, I resorted to eating only bread until I became terribly constipated. Unlike some people, therefore, who are asking why Ushang went out in search of food, I totally understand. Six-thirty p.m was not late. She was still wearing her Corper's uniform. Meaning that either she had just come back from work, or she wore it in order to be identified, and so be respected and protected. What an irony – If the version of the story making the rounds is anything to go by – her uniform was to become her nemesis. She was physically assaulted and raped to death. Hours later, her body was found half-naked, and completely messed up by the God-cursed assailants and rapists.
I hate to imagine the pains Ushang went through before she died. I hate to imagine the struggles before she was over-powered. I hate to imagine her screams, and what was going through her mind as she was being violently raped, and finally, lay dying. What a way to serve one’s fatherland! What a waste of a young woman who had all her life well ahead of her!!
Nobody has confirmed why Ushang was killed. But the most popular version is that it was because she was wearing her Corper’s uniform – Trousers! Meaning that she was raped and killed by religious bigots. True? I doubt this. Who witnessed and/or overheard her argument – if there was any – with her killers? I know that in some parts of the North, the wearing of trousers by women is prohibited, allegedly, on religious grounds. But what has that got to do with a Youth Corper in her uniform? Would that be the first time those characters would see a female youth corper in uniform? That has been the norm since 1973 when the programme started. And assuming that was offensive to them, why kill her? Was there no other way to show their repulsion?
When Senator Eme Ekaette submitted the Indecent Dressing Bill to the Senate, I felt it was a mistake. I know I have been aghast watching Nigerian women, both young and, surprisingly, old, prance around half-naked in the name of fashion. I have oftentimes mopped, in disgust, the fashion craze of a woman spilling out her breasts publicly. Some combine that with wearing gowns, or skirts, so short that nothing is left for the imagination. I have always wondered if they are from homes or the streets. Yet, I was scared by Senator Ekaette’s bill. If passed, it would be an invitation to some Nigerian men to molest, and assault women. In some states, they would be candidates for jail. My plea: The National Assembly should throw that bill to the thrash can where it rightly belongs.
Yet, I don’t quite believe that Ushang's dressing led to her violent murder. She was probably raped and killed by some of the hundreds of rapists who are on the prowl, not only in the streets, but at homes, churches and schools. Perhaps, it has become a fad. Which is why everyday, we read stories of teachers raping children kept under their care. We read of the everyday raping of women and minors. Nobody cares. The demented rapists go free while their victims live with the stigma. Most times, to avoid being stigmatised, they don’t even report the b..st..ds. In some states in the North, in the name of Sharia, such victims are condemned to public flogging or death by public stoning. Instead of getting the man, and publicly cut off his manhood, they blame the victim. How wicked can a system be? But back to Ushang.
I was taken aback by the initial reactions of the Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff, and the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier-General Maharazu Isiga. Instead of shutting up after condemning the heinous crime, they began to ask female youth corpers to be careful of the company they keep, their security, and where they go to. This is provocative. What company did Ushang keep? Did anybody tell Isiga and Sheriff that she went out with somebody, or that she went to visit anybody? Did anybody tell them that she went to a club, a brothel, or a hotel? Their reaction is the usual attitude of the Nigerian system to rape. How careful could Ushang have been, and what security measures was she expected to take?
It is most worrisome that till date, the culprits have not been arrested. The question is: Should Youth Corpers be posted to their area of origin to avoid this type of tragedy and such others? Is the NYSC still a unifying venture? If it is the last thing the police and the Nigerian government would do, her assailants must be apprehended, tried and have them pay the ultimate price. That, of course, will not bring Ushang back, but it would act as a deterrent to others of their ilk.
Finally, the Federal Government should find a way to compensate the Ushangs. When they sent their daughter to school, their hope was that she would become somebody, and take care of them at old age. They did not bargain for this tragedy. Nothing given to them would make up for their terrible loss, but it would help, nonetheless. It is very sad.