Delta State Police Command has clarified that the Alue-Do festival in Ozoro was not a “ra.pe festival” but a fertility event held to pray for women seeking children.
Police spokesperson Bright Edafe stated on Monday during an appearance on The Morning Brief that no victims had reported being raped in connection with the festival. Investigations so far, he said, do not support claims of rape, and none of the four girls interviewed by police said they had been assaulted.
“Up till this moment, we have not had any official report that anybody was raped,” Edafe said, emphasizing that inquiries are based on evidence and witness accounts. He described the festival as a fertility rite organised by a chief priest, not an event promoting sexual violence.
Edafe added, “For the fact that we have not had a witness who says ‘I was raped’, and the evidence does not show that anybody was raped, sexual assault is what we would be investigating.”
He confirmed that 16 suspects are currently in custody. The chief priest and four others were initially arrested, while 11 more suspects were later identified through video footage.
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