Police in Nigeria say 15 people have been arrested following allegations of sexual assault at a community festival in the southern Delta state.
Videos circulated online showed young men openly attacking women who were on their own. The clips sparked widespread anger, leading to the hashtag #StopRapingWomen to trend on social media, and renewed calls for accountability over gender-based violence.
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 that no formal report of rape had been made in connection with the festival.
The videos, taken during the Alue-Do fertility festival in 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'.
Edafe stated, '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 have reported that women were warned not to go out during parts of the festival, and that those seen outside were deliberately targeted, raising concerns that sexual violence may have been organized or tolerated under the guise of tradition.
Rights groups assert that even if it is not evident that anyone was raped, the documented behaviors, including forced stripping and public humiliation, constitute serious gender-based violence under Nigerian law.
The Delta state government has asserted that no recognized festival permits sexual assault and that all violence should be treated as a crime. Nigeria's First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, condemned the alleged assaults, urging security agencies to prosecute all offenders and encouraging victims to seek medical and psychological support.
