The police in Ebonyi State, south-east Nigeria, have arrested two men for allegedly stripping two teenage girls and flogging them over an allegation of theft.
The police vowed to prosecute the suspects to serve as a deterrent to others.
In a viral video, the two teenagers, accused of stealing fowls, were stripped, beaten and made to undergo other dehumanising treatments.
They were forced to walk naked around the community with the fowls they allegedly stole.
PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the incident happened around November 2023 in Ojiegbe, Ngbo community in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, but the video surfaced on social media this week.
There has been public outrage over the video, with many Nigerians calling on security agencies to investigate the girls’ inhuman treatment and prosecute those involved.
“Share it until it gets to the government authorities.
“These girls were subjected to inhuman treatment. Criminal cases have legal punishment stipulated in the criminal code.
“Anyone caught in this situation should be handed over to the police, this treatment is too much for those small underage girls,” says the overlay text on the video.
Arrest of suspects
The police spokesperson in Ebonyi, Joshua Ukandu, disclosed in a statement on Tuesday, 5 November, that two suspects, Dennis Ali and Ituma Sunday, have been arrested in connection with the dehumanising treatment of the girls.
Mr Ukandu, a deputy superintendent of police, described the video as “disturbing”.
The spokesperson said the arrest was in keeping with the new Commissioner of Police, Anthonia Uche-Anya’s promise to eradicate trial by ordeal, jungle justice, and self-help in criminal justice.
Mr Ukandu said the police commissioner has assured that those involved in the girls’ dehumanising treatment would “face the full force of the law for their heinous actions”.
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