Cassava Theft:  Vigilantes Strip Rivers Woman Naked, Share Nudes on Facebook

A 27-year-old woman identified as Comfort Eze, who was stripped naked and brutalised by members of a local vigilante in Ovogo community, Emuoha Local Government Area of Rivers State for allegedly stealing cassava, has called for the arrest of those behind her ordeal.

It was learnt that Miss Eze was accosted and arrested on September 15 by the Ovogo coordinator of the ONELGA Security Peace and Advisory Council popularly known as OSPAC for allegedly stealing cassava from her neighbour’s farm.

Narrating her ordeal to journalists on the premises of International Federation of Women Lawyers in Port Harcourt, Miss Eze said after stripping her, the vigilante members took snapshots, shared her nude pictures on social media and paraded round the community.

She alleged that the OSPAC members demanded over N60,000 from her as fine for her crime, adding that after paying an initial N52,000 to bail herself, they were still demanding a balance of N20,000 from her family.

“They tore my clothes, carried me out and blindfolded me; they said they wanted to shoot me to death. They took photographs of my naked body and put them on Facebook and post it everywhere,” the victim spoke in Pidgin English.

Reacting to the development, OSPAC Commander in Emuoha LGA, Emeka Wori, condemn the action of his colleague in Ovogo, saying the outfit was collaborating with the security agencies to arrest the culprit.

Wori stated, “What happened is an evil act. It was after two days I saw it on WhatsApp, but I could not look at it twice because she (Miss Eze) is my younger sister.

“If he (culprit) fails to go to the DSS, we will arrest him and take him there. The first thing is that he has to go and answer the DSS and explain to them why he did what he did.”

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, said the command was aware of the incident.