The operatives of the Edo State Police Command have arrested five women for stripping a lady, identified as Christabel Akhigbe naked over alleged phone theft in Benin City, the Edo State Capital.
The Edo State Commissioner of Police, Funsho Adeboye, while addressing newsmen, said the women also videoed the victim’s nakedness and uploaded it on social media platforms.
Narrating the ordeal of the lady, Adegboye said the suspects accused the victim of stealing an Android phone belonging to one Blessing Lucky. They invited her to return the said mobile device.
The Commissioner explained that Akhigbe later returned the phone to its owner. However, the women lured her into a room, beat and stripped her naked. They also threatened to apply pepper to her private parts. The suspects then allegedly made a video of the scene and posted it on social media, where it went viral.
Adegboye said that upon receiving the complaint, police operatives arrested the suspects. They have also confessed to the crime.
The Commissioner who gave the names of the suspects as Blessing Lucky, 15, Jennifer Eboigbe, 30, and Iziegbe Ogbodu, 39. Others are Naomi Ekhonetomwan, 17, and Lucky Endurance, 16. According to Adegboye, the suspects were arrested for indecent assault and cyberstalking.
The Commissioner, however, used the occasion to warn citizens not to take laws into their own hands. He noted that those who would have been the complainants are now suspects in the case.
Adegboye assured that the Police Command would cooperate with human rights organizations to ensure that the suspects pay for the crime.
“The suspects,” he assured, “will soon be charged in court.”
In an interview, one of the suspects, Jenifer Eboigbe, said she was ashamed of what they did to the victim.
“My daughter, Blessing, came to me and said that her phone was stolen. And after some days, we retrieved the phone from Christabel. The girl begged me that they shouldn’t beat her. But despite my plea with the other ladies, they went ahead and stripped Christabel naked. I am ashamed of what they did because I am a mother,” Eboigbe said.
source: Daily Post
