in

Ejigbo Pepper sellers’ torture latest: Victims, perpetrators not yet identified

‘We have no clue about it,’ KEHINDE BAMIGBETAN

Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan
Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan

Conflicting stories are emerging on the two women said to have been tortured and sexually harassed by market vigilantes for admitting to stealing pepper around Ejigbo, Lagos.

Days back news went viral on the internet of a gang torturing two women. Video footage showed unidentified vigilante gangs attacking the two women, one of them stripped naked and thrusting ground pepper and sticks into her private part and the other tortured for an allegation of stealing pepper.

The incident was proudly condemned by civil rights organizations and concerned Nigerians. What, however, is a twist in the whole scenario was the claim by the Chairman, Ejigbo Local Government, Lagos, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan when he told ENCOMIUM Weekly on Thursday, December 12, 2013, there are no clues yet.

“There is no story on it yet, the woman and her husband could not be identified. Hopefully, if we have any clue we will let you know but as for now, the incident appeared strange and no traces at all to that effort.”

The chairman earlier in a press release maintained the incident actually took place in the central market in Iyana-Ejigbo sometime in February 2013 and not in December as widely reported.

ENCOMIUM Weekly investigations didn’t yield any positive result. We visited the said market place for clarification, none of those women whom we spoke to could tell us anything about the incident. Everybody went about their normal business.

The Lagos State Police Command, through its Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide had claimed no clue was available on the incident. “There is no clue whatsoever on the identities of either the victims or the culprits. We only saw the video and could not tell exactly where it happened.”

Dehumanization acts have become the order of the day in Nigeria. A year ago, four University of Port Harcourt undergraduates, now known as ALUU 4 (Chigozie Samuel Evans, Felemo Solomon, Cynthia Chinwo, and Ozioma Abajuo) were beaten to death by a mob. Many arrests were made and the case is still in court.

Only months back, the same scenario played itself at Badagry in Lagos. Two young men (Ify Gabriel Nwainokpor and his friend Kasim Onayemi) were lynched by community vigilante on the claim that they were armed robbers.

 – OLAMIDE ADEYOYIN

Encomium

Written by Encomium

A media, tech and events company.

What do you think?

Leave a Reply

Avatar

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Inauguration of Board of NDDC in Abuja

Entrepreneurs x-ray business climate in 2013