16-Year-Old Girl Raped And Murdered On Her Birthday; Friends And Family Seek Justice

Nigerians are seeking justice for Comfort Otega Benjamin, 16, who was slain in Jos. On May 23, images of Comfort were posted on social media, with loved ones pleading for assistance in locating Comfort, who was expected to be spending her 16th birthday that day.

Her sister, Mary Benjamin, said Comfort left home at their residence in Rock Haven in Jos East, Plateau Stateon, on May 22, and never returned. Her body was discovered in St. Michaels area Nasarawa Gwong in Jos North on the evening of May 24, Monday, after a two-day search.

She was found naked and evidence of rape and strangulation. Her body was dumped in the roadside gutters. Comfort was put to rest recently.

Mary told the Foundation For Investigative Journalism (FIJ), the police at the Nasarawa Gwong Division in Plateau State are seeking a charge of N25,000 to investigate the horrific murder of her sister.

Musa Hassan, the Divisional Police Officer, requested to turn over whatever evidence to aid the authorities in their inquiry.

According to FIJ, Mary was able to access her sister’s Facebook messages through her laptop.

“We saw suspicious messages of people promising to give her birthday gifts if she can come to pick them up,” she said. “We printed all these chats and gave them to the police. We also gave them Comfort’s phone number to track her recent calls, only for the DPO to hand us over to a specialist who then asked us to bring N25,000 for the phone tracking,” she added.

According to Hassan, they are still working with the family on the case.

“They have a principal suspect. I have told them to bring the picture but I am yet to see them since then,” he told FIJ.

Twitter users are demanding that the perpetrators be apprehended and held accountable for their conduct. #JusticeForComfortBenjamin went viral as netizens seek justice for Benjamin.

One Twitter user wrote, “These pictures below were for her birthday. She never got the chance to post them.15 years going on 16 killed in the most gruesome manner.

She was raped, strangled, and murdered and her naked body was dum[p]ed in a gutter. #JusticeForComfortBenjamin

The headlines of Comfort's disappearance and death prompted ire on social media, with many people initiating campaigns to find her perpetrators.