Metro
Police Invite Activist Who Accused Officers of Raping Sex Workers, Say She Won’t be Detained
The Police in Abuja have invited a woman for questioning after she accused officers of raping suspected commercial sex workers with sachet water nylons.
Dorothy Njemanze, an Abuja-based women’s rights activist, raised the allegation on social media on Thursday. It came as police and social development authorities intensified their crackdown on alleged sex workers across the federal capital.
Abuja Police Commissioner Bala Ciroma told PREMIUM TIMES the activist was only asked to turn up at the FCT police headquarters to assist detectives with information about officers responsible for the gruesome abuses.
“The allegations are too grievous for our institution to ignore,” the police chief said. “We hope the woman will have useful information that will aid our investigation.”
Mrs Njemanze said she learnt from some of the women arrested and profiled as prostitutes that officers traded the women’s release for sex.
“We learnt that some of the women were raped with sachet water nylons because there were no condoms left,” Mrs Njemanze told PREMIUM TIMES Wednesday evening.
The police invited her because she had put out a video and wrote posts on her social media handles alleging the incident earlier this week.
“I will be honouring the commissioner’s invitation on Thursday (today) morning,” she told PREMIUM TIMES. “We are partners in progress.”
Mr Ciroma said he looked forward to receiving Mrs Njemanze on Thursday, and she will not be detained no matter how the invitation turned out.
Out on a limb
Dozens of women have been arrested at night clubs in major parts of the city within the last two weeks. They were accused of “offences” ranging from prostitution to indecent dressing, despite social media outrage that some of the women might have been hanging out with male acquaintances or even alone.
At least 70 women were arrested in a joint raid by the police and Abuja social workers between April 29 and 29. The arrests were in addition to dozens of women who were taken into custody at Caramelo, a famous gentleman’s club in the posh Utako neighbourhood.
The Nigerian Constitution is silent on commercial sex activities, but there are subsidiary legislation in some local jurisdictions that prohibit such acts. After the purported invasion of Abuja by young women repeatedly made headlines in 2011, there were rumours that Ike Ekweremadu was sponsoring a bill to legalise the commercial sex work in the country. The Enugu senator, who became the deputy senate president in 2015, however, denied the reports at the time.
The police summarily arraigned some of the women at an improvised courtroom, but many were reportedly freed amidst unclear circumstances. Some of those convicted received up to six months’ imprisonment, while a few others were slammed with fines.
Even though the clubs were filled with both sexes, only women were arrested. This has elicited allegations of gender-based violence against women, which could render them even more vulnerable than they had been.
‘No vagina is safe in Abuja’
Mrs Njemanze said she had been gathering evidence about the alleged rape of women with sachet water nylons, but her personal experience sufficed to conclude that officers were capable of committing such acts.
“When I was arrested in 2012, my breast and buttocks were terribly fondled by some of the officers,” Mrs Njemanze said.
She made headlines that year after being arrested for alleged prostitution. She sued the Nigerian government at ECOWAS Court and won. The court determined that her rights were violated because she was arrested only because she was out at night.
“In most cases of prostitution, you will have a man and a woman,” Mrs Njemanze said. “If you arrest only the woman and profile her as a prostitute, then it becomes gender-based violence.”
She said only 10 of about 70 women who were arrested last week were arraigned before a mobile court near the Federal Secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday.
“Police officers freed most of the women after they were given sex and money,” Mrs Njemanze said.
She said she will demand a review of the circumstances under which the most of the women were released without charges — including an interview of all the officers that took part in the arrests and some of the freed detainees.
‘Just plead guilty’
Mrs Njemanze said one of the major concerns she would raise with Mr Ciroma will be about officers’ “unethical practice” of ensnaring suspected prostitutes into admitting their guilt.
“Whenever they arrest women at night clubs, be they strippers or commercial sex workers or whatever, they usually ask them to just plead guilty in their kangaroo court so they could be fined for a small amount rather than sent to jail,” she said.
The officers use the tactics to avoid the responsibility of proving that the women were actually prostitutes as required in criminal proceedings. Only a few of victims of discriminatory police arrests know their fundamental rights as Nigerian citizens, she added.
“I respect the commissioner because he has been proactive against sexual and gender-based violence,” Mrs Njemanze said. “But the officers have failed to emulate his professionalism.”
Premium Times
The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Shehu Mohammed, has condole with families of the victims of the fuel tanker fire which occurred at the Dikko junction in Niger state on Saturday, charging tanker operators to always adhere strictly to safety standards and observe due protocols in transloading fuel products.
In his reaction to the fuel tanker incident, according to a statement signed by the Public Education Officer, Assistant Corps Marshal Olusegun Ogungbemide, and made available to the National Association of Online Security News Publishers (NAOSNP), the Corps Marshal described the human losses to the inferno as disheartening and disastrous, warning that such incidents must never be allowed to happen again.
The Corps Marshal expressed worry that despite sustained enlightenment programs carried out by the Corps with the tanker drivers on the need to be safety conscious while transporting petroleum products due to their inflammable nature and the general public to stay away from scenes of tanker crashes, many people could still fall victims of the Saturday’s unfortunate tanker incident. While recalling that 73 burnt bodies have so far been recovered by the rescue teams for final burial as arranged by the Niger State Government, the Corps Marshal revealed that the FRSC teams have been directed to sustain the joint operations with other relevant stakeholders to ensure effective management of traffic at the scenes in order to prevent further incidents.
In the same vein, the accident investigation unit of the Corps will work in collaboration with other agencies to unravel the causes and proffer solutions that could address future occurrence. “Meanwhile, those that sustained various degrees of injury have been taken to different hospitals including Suleja General Hospital for further medical attention as normalcy has returned to the area with free movement of traffic,” the Corps Marshal stated.
Shehu Mohammed stressed the importance of inter-agency collaboration and robust engagement with members of the public including critical stakeholders to ensure that the nation does not witness this level of human losses again, especially when the incident could have been prevented by strict adherence to due diligence. “The nation was yet to recover from similar incident that occured in Jiagawa last year, and having to witness another incident of this magnitude at the beginning of the new year is painful and regrettable,” he further stated.
The Corps Marshal assures Nigerians that the FRSC will continue to work with the relevant stakeholders and members of the public to find lasting solutions to all road-based emergencies and called for involvement of all Nigerians in the joint efforts to ensure safety and security of lives and property of road travelers.
While praying God for repose of the souls of all those that lost their lives to the inferno, the Corps Marshal appeals for support to the families of the survivors in the various hospitals to ensure their quick recovery. He further commiserate with the people of Niger state and commended the prompt intervention of the Executive Governor of Niger State who was physically present at the scene.
In furtherance of its ongoing scheme to excite and reward its subscribers across the country, Globacom, on Friday, in Abuja, held another draw to select winners in its Festival of Joy consumer promotion.
The draw, held at the Gloworld, Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse, had the presence of several observers including Glo subscribers, members of the media and Martin Oteh who led officials of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) to witness the process.
The company had before now presented prizes to winners in several cities since the promo started in October 2024, enabling hundreds of Nigerians who won various prizes to end the year 2024 on a joyful note.
As is the tradition since the start of the promo, the draw precedes the prize presentation exercise, which is to be done on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at the same Glo office at Wuse, Abuja. The lucky subscribers include the winner of a brand new Toyota Prado and winners of tricycle, sewing machines, generators and grinding machines.
Globacom encouraged new and existing subscribers to dial *611# to opt into the promo and to also keep recharging (voice and data) during the promo period, in order to be eligible to win the prizes on offer. New subscribers can participate immediately by purchasing a new SIM, registering it and dialing *611#.
“New and existing customers are to recharge up to N100, 000 cumulatively during the promo period to qualify for the draw for the Prado Jeep, N50, 000 cumulative recharge for Kia Picanto, N10, 000 in a month for tricycle and N5, 000 total recharge in a month to win a generator. For the sewing machine, a total recharge of N2, 500 in a month is required, while for the grinding machine, a recharge of N1,000 in a week will be eligible for the draw”, the company noted.
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has revoked lands allocated to Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, his Bayelsa counterpart Douye Diri, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Abbas Tajudeen.
The minister’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, said the withdrawal of the R-of-O for 568 allottees followed the expiration of a two-week grace period to pay their C-of-O bills.
He noted that of the 3,273 allottees initially given two weeks in October 2024 to pay their bills, 568 remained in default after an additional grace period expired on January 15.
Also affected are the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), Ibrahim Hadejia; former governor of Cross River State, Ben Ayade, Senate Leader; Opeyemi Bamidele, Senate Minority Leader; Abba Moro, Minister of State for Labour and Employment; Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, Minister of State for Industry Trade and Investment; John Eno, Chairperson/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM); Abike Dabiri-Erewa; late Sports Minister Bala Kaoje; and Regina Akume, wife of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume.
The fresh revocation comes three weeks after the initial withdrawal of 762 plots of land from their allottees.
