Nigerian police arrest 15 after viral videos of alleged sexual assault at festival

Police in Nigeria say 15 people have been arrested following allegations of sexual assault at a community festival in the southern Delta state. Delta state police have rejected claims circulating online that the Alue-Do festival in Ozoro was a “rape festival”. Local spokesperson Bright Edafe told Channels TV on Monday thatno formal report of rape had been made in connection with the festival.

The videos, taken during the Alue-Do fertility festival in the city of Ozoro, show groups of young men chasing, stripping, grabbing and assaulting women in public spaces, in some cases while people are filming. The police spokesman described the scenes as “alarming, disgusting and embarrassing” and said they had arrested several suspects identified from the videos and transferred them to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Edafe told Channels: “We have spoken to four girls and all of them said nobody raped them.” Among those detained is a community leader widely named as the organiser of the event. Some witnesses, activists and residents say women were warned not to go out during parts of the festival, and that those seen outside were deliberately targeted.