#JusticeForComfortBenjamin: Another Hashtag, Another Girl Dead
It’s barely the middle of 2021 and yet, the statistics continue to climb through the roof. We haven’t fully gotten over the “Hinny Umoren incident” and now, another young Nigerian girl, a teenager in fact, went missing on the eve of her 16th birthday and was found days later; raped and killed.
Did your heart just stop beating? Even if it was for just one quick second? Did you heave a deep breath of horror? Frustration? Or maybe even good-old righteous vengeance? Or have you become numb to the barrage of evil news that continues to flood our timelines by the hour? Whatever was your reaction to the murder of this 16 year old girl, it will never come close to the horror, the terrifyingly cruel abomination that this singular act was.
Comfort Benjamin was to turn 16 on the 23rd of May, 2021 in Jos, North, Plateau state. Her sister, Mary Benjamin, revealed that the young girl had visited her office at noon on the 22nd of May, 2021 to collect the balance for her birthday photoshoot. By the time Mary returned by 7:30 pm, Comfort was still not home. Mary asked for her whereabouts from the other sister, Joy, but Joy confessed to not knowing Comfort’s whereabouts. She admitted to Comfort returning home but then, she had no idea when she left again or even what clothes she was wearing. When Comfort still did not return by past 10pm, she knew something was wrong. Innocently, she assumed that Comfort had probably decided to be truant and throw herself a secret birthday party somewhere far from the house. After several calls and running around, Comfort’s family finally decided to report the case to the police, even though it was not yet 48 hours. After filing the missing person’s report, Mary posted on social media and contacted her friends to help her push the Hashtag so her sister would be found quicker.
The next day, they received a call that changed everything. It was from a patrolling officer from Nasarawa who told the family that he had found two unidentified young female bodies. They refused to believe that Comfort was dead or was even in Nasarawa but they went ahead with the lead since it was the only tangible information they had at that moment.
On Monday, the 24th of May, 2021, Mr. Benjamin, Comfort’s father, confirmed that indeed, one of the bodies belonged to his daughter. According to the autopsy, Comfort had been raped, strangled and eventually murdered. The policemen confessed to finding her naked body on the roadside on the same day she went missing and according to the doctor, she had died that same afternoon, possibly a few hours after she visited her older sister’s office.
The family has since laid Comfort to rest and have now commenced investigations to find the criminals responsible for her death.
Comfort Benjamin is more than just a Hashtag or a statistic. She was a daughter, a sister, a friend and an excited teenager and that is how we will choose to remember her; In all of her light. May she find eternal peace, Amen.
Mary offered an interview which you would find here.
All images are gotten from twitter.com.
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