Delta State Police Command has said the Alue-Do festival in Ozoro was not a rape festival but a gathering held for prayers for women seeking children.
Police spokesperson Bright Edafe said this on Monday during an appearance on The Morning Brief. He said no victim has reported being raped in connection with the event.
Spokesperson Edafe said findings so far do not support claims of rape. According to him, none of the four girls interviewed by the police said they were raped.
“Up till this moment, we have not had any official report that anybody was raped,” he said, adding that investigations are based on available evidence and witness accounts.
He said the festival is a fertility rite organised by a chief priest to pray for women seeking children and not meant to promote sexual violence.
“For the fact that we have not had a witness who says ‘I was raped’, and the evidence does not show that anybody was raped, sexual assault is what we would be investigating,” he said.
Edafe confirmed that 16 suspects are in custody. He said the chief priest and four others were first arrested, while 11 more suspects were later identified through video footage.
He said the suspects have been moved to the State Command Headquarters for investigation by the State Criminal Investigation Department.
The police spokesperson said officers visited Ozoro and nearby Oramudu community, where they met four victims.
He also said the event organisers did not inform key stakeholders, including the traditional ruler, the students’ union, school authorities and the police.
“For reasons best known to them, the traditional ruler of Ozoro Kingdom was not informed, the students’ union was not informed, and the school management was not informed. They also did not inform the police,” he said.
The palace of the Ozoro Kingdom had earlier distanced itself from reports of harassment of women during the event, stating that such acts are not part of the community’s tradition.
The Delta State Government also denied claims that any festival in the state allows sexual assault. It said those involved in the incident would face the law.
