The Delta State Police Command has dismissed claims that the controversial Alue-Do festival in Ozoro was a “rape festival”, stating that no victim has officially reported r@pe in connection with the incident.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Bright Edafe, made this known during an interview on Channels Television on Monday, March 23.
“It is important to state clearly that among the four girls that were interviewed yesterday, no one, not one of them, said they were r@ped. Up till this very moment, we have not had any official reports that anybody was r@ped,” he said.
Edafe stressed that investigations are guided strictly by evidence and witness accounts.
“The law does not work on emotions. The law works on available evidence and statements of witnesses. For the fact that we have not had a witness who says ‘I was r@ped’, and the evidence does not show that anybody was r@ped, sexu@l ass@ult is what we would be investigating,” he added.
The police spokesman explained that the festival was not intended to promote sexual violence but was a traditional rite.
“It was not a r@pe festival. It was a festival organised by a chief priest to pray for barren women seeking the fruit of the womb. That was the intention” Edafe said
He, however, revealed that 16 suspects have been arrested so far.
“Having done the initial arrest, the chief priest, who happens to be the head of the community, was initially arrested alongside four others. Then, having gone through video analysis, that is, the training footage, some additional individuals were identified and arrested, making it 11 more.
This brings the total number of suspects currently in custody to 16, and they have been transferred to the State Command Headquarters to be duly investigated by the DC State CID,” Edafe said.