Twenty-four-year-old Miss Favour Friday has finally decided to
open up on how she was caught in the web of the men who pinned her
down and inserted pepper into her private parts.
Favour, who is from Rivers State, said she had been living in
Benin since 2018.
She disclosed that February 1, was a day she would never forget;
that was the day the men accused her of stealing and thereafter
debased her.
Favour was beaten and stripped by some men who accused her of
stealing iPhone X Max valued at N440,000. Her accusers later
inserted pepper into her private parts after taking her to a native
doctor, who carried out a voodoo activity even in the face of
repeated denial.
Three persons, the head of the vigilance group at Ugbiyoko
community, Mr. Lucky Igbinovia popularly known as One Man Squad,
Joel Otoghile and Iyamu Kingsley, have been remanded in prison
custody in connection with the incident.
Recalling that fateful day, Favour said: “I was in the hotel,
where other girls and I used to ‘hustle,’ when a guy called my
friend. He asked her to come to Lafun Hotel, where he was staying
with some of his friends.”
After receiving the phone call, Favour’s friend asked her if she
could go with her, she responded in the affirmative.
Favour recalled: “My friend and I dressed and headed for the
hotel. When we got there, the guy that called my girlfriend said I
should go and stay with another guy that needed a girl. I sat in
the middle of the men; the other man was with my friend. One of the
men was breaking Tramadol and mixing it inside a bottle of Coca
Cola. My girlfriend said she didn’t understand what the man was
mixing inside the bottle. She was afraid and said she wanted to
leave.
“My friend went to the man that she was with, and asked him why
he was taking Tramadol. She said she didn’t want to take it and
wanted to leave. The man asked her how she knew the stuff was
Tramadol. She replied that her friend told her what it was. The man
started arguing about the mixture; I picked up the label of the
substance to prove to him that it was Tramadol he was taking.
“He accepted but argued that the drug doesn’t make someone to
feel high. My girlfriend said she could no longer stay that she
wanted to leave. She asked the man that called her, to give her
transport fare. The man gave her N500.”
Favour said that as soon as her girlfriend left, she followed.
She said she didn’t want to stay there alone, especially since the
person that brought her had left.
She said: “It was not up to 30 minutes after we returned to our
hotel, that some men came shouting that I should return the phone I
took. I asked what phone? I told them I didn’t take any phone. At
that point, one of them slapped me. They wanted to strip me there,
but our director warned them not to try it.”
According to Favour, as the argument raged back and forth, dusk
began to gather. Tired of the accusation and counter-accusation,
the director asked the men to leave and return the next day.
Favour said: “They came the next day. They took us to, One Man
Squad’s house. The man asked what happened, we explained. He said
he would take us to a native doctor’s house. He called the native
doctor and asked him to come. Our director then said he was going
to the bank to withdraw money to give his wife. Immediately the
native doctor came, the men started speaking to him in Bini
language.
“The native doctor said we should write our names on a piece of
paper. We were about six persons that wrote our names. He said that
the name of the person who stole the phone would disappear, while
the names of those innocent would remain.
“The man who said his phone was stolen was asked to crosscheck
the names and keep the paper. After the first time, I didn’t see my
name; I was asked to write down my name. The man did what he did
and again, I didn’t see my name. The native doctor said they should
hold me; that I was the person who stole the phone. The native
doctor also took two bullets and placed them on my stomach; right
before my eyes, the bullets disappeared.
“He said that I should confess that I stole the phone, but I
told him I didn’t. He said that since I have refused to confess,
that the bullets would burst inside my stomach and kill me. He
left, followed by the men that brought us there. A few minutes
later, the men returned and asked me to go and beg the native
doctor or I would die. I still maintained that I didn’t take the
phone. Tired, I grudgingly went to beg him, but suddenly he brought
out a snake and out of fear, I lied that I took the phone, but
didn’t know where I kept it.”
Favour said that after the native doctor left, the men started
beating her. They stripped and inserted pepper into her private
parts, while one of them video-recorded it.
“One woman later came to rescue me. She took me to a corner. She
asked me if stole the phone, I said no. She suggested that I should
pay them; the men welcomed the idea. They said I must pay N440,000,
which they claimed was the value of the phone,” recounted
Favour.
By then, news has travelled to Favour’s friends. When the ladies
heard about the N440,000 demand, they rallied and contributed
N250,000.
It was learnt that the men, who went to the base of the ladies,
started a reign of terror. They destroyed things, including louvers
and furniture. Although the director gave them money so that they
would leave, they vowed to return the following day to collect a
balance of N180,000.
“On Sunday the men sent the video to my friend’s phone. She
asked them why they sent the video even after they had collected
money,” narrated Favour.
It was later discovered that the video had been uploaded on the
internet.
But the prime suspect in the horrific assault case, Joel
Otoghile (36), has a different story to tell. Otoghile said that he
returned from Ghana and lodged in Lafun Hotel with his wife. When
his cousins came to see him, they requested for ladies, with whom
they could spend the night.
He said: “I came back from Ghana to attend an event, which was
to be held on February 2, 2019. When we were in the hotel, some of
my relatives came to see me. One of my brothers requested a lady
for the night. One of my brothers had the phone number of a lady;
he called and asked her to come to the hotel. He also asked her to
come with another girl.
“When the ladies came, I met my cousin with his girlfriend and
some other girls; they were all seated.”
Otoghile said he left briefly to see the receptionist of the
hotel, when he came back, the ladies had left.
He said: “When I came back, the ladies, who were sitting with
me, were no longer there. One of the ladies that were there told me
that the ladies had left. I asked why; she said the ladies
complained that what I offered to pay them was not enough. When we
were sitting, I had left my phone to meet the receptionist. I
couldn’t find it. I started looking for it. I went back to the
receptionist to ask if I left my phone there; she said no, that I
only came with my ATM card and drink.”
Otoghile and his siblings went to the ladies’ base, allegedly
hoping to recover the missing phone. When they got there, they
started destroying property of the hotel where the two ladies and
others live. The men insisted that Favour must pay for the iPhone X
Max.
He added: “I left the phone where one of the ladies was seated.
We went to ask the girl if she was the person that took the phone,
she denied it. I told her that she wouldn’t be able to use the
phone because it had a secret number. I pleaded with her, but she
insisted that she didn’t pick the phone.”
The manager of Lafun Hotel came up with the idea of taking
Favour to Ayilala Shrine, to swear to an oath that she didn’t take
the phone.
The native doctor carried a deadly incantation that made two
live bullets to enter Favour’s stomach and further brought out a
snake to frighten her into admitting to the crime.
He also asked both Favour and her traducers to write down their
names on a piece of paper, which he provided for them. He warned
that after incantations, anybody whose name disappeared from the
paper was the thief.
It was when Favour’s name disappeared that the men insisted that
she was the one who stole the phone. They descended on her,
mercilessly beating her, before stripping her.
It was alleged that when the hotel manager noticed that the
situation was turning bad, he called Igbinovia, asking him to
advise the parties to go to the police for settlement.
A high court sitting in Benin, Edo State, on Monday, remanded
Igbinovia, Kingsley and Otoghile in prison for debasing Favour.
They were arraigned on a 14-count charge bordering on kidnapping,
attempted murder, unlawful administration of noxious substance into
the private parts of Favour, unlawful trial by ordeal, among
others.
The prosecution counsel, Peter Ugwumba, told the court that
investigations showed that no phone was missing and that it was
conceived to extort money from the victim.
He added: “A native doctor, yet to be arrested, magically inserted
two live bullets into the body of Favour, saying she would die if
she refused to confess.”
The presiding judge, Justice J. Acha, remanded the accused in
prison and adjourned the case till March 6, 2019. He ordered the
prosecution to produce other suspects at large in court, especially
the native doctor, who fingered Favour as the person who stole
Otoghile’s phone.
The Acting Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Mohammed Adamu,
warned that his administration would not tolerate human rights
violations under whatever guise. Adamu specifically condemned the
case of a 45-year-old woman, Odugu Blessing Dada, from Delta State,
who was allegedly assaulted. He also mentioned Favour’s case.
To underscore the seriousness Adamu attached to the case, he
directed the Edo State Police Commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, to
ensure that perpetrators of the heinous act were brought to
justice.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr. Frank Mba, an
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), conveyed the IG’s position
in a statement.
He said: “The IG has expressed deep concerns over increasing
acts of impunity and jungle justice and all manner of dehumanising
treatment meted out to Nigerians by unscrupulous persons.
“The IG, who is appalled by the recently publicised incident in
the social media portraying the unsavoury debasement and
incalculable assault on Odugu Blessing Dada (45) in Ika North East
Local Government Area of Delta State, notes that this incident and
other similar incidents before it, in Edo, Lagos, Abuja and Ebonyi
states, among others, have become worrisome.
“The IG, therefore, warns that his regime, which has zero
tolerance for human rights abuses, especially gender-based
violence, will do everything humanly possible and within the ambit
of the law to put an end to the scourge and effectively prosecute
all offenders.
“The IG condoles with all victims of jungle justice and other
forms of extra-judicial acts particularly Odugu Blessing Dada, her
family and friends over the wicked and unwarranted assault on her
by Friday Ndudi Eluro et. al, and also commends all Nigerians,
whom, by their words and actions, have clearly identified with the
victim and raised the red flag on impunity and all forms of inhuman
treatment in the country.
“The IG, who enthused that most of the alleged perpetrators of
this particular crime have been apprehended, nonetheless, has
ordered the newly posted Commissioner of Police, Delta State,
Adeleke Yinka, to ensure that the case be expeditiously and
thoroughly investigated and all indicted suspects charged to
court.
“The IG calls on all Nigerians to steer-clear of human rights
violations and all manner of impunity and jungle justice and to
report all incidents to the nearest relevant authority. He,
however, warns that henceforth human rights violators will be
dealt-with in accordance with the law.”
Following the attack on Favour, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo
State signed the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Bill into
law.
This was ev
en as the state Police Command declared that no phone was missing,
stressing that those accusing Favour of phone theft, only wanted to
extort her.
Incidentally, also, a group of women, led by members of the
International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Edo State
chapter, protested to the Government House in Benin to register
their grievances over the manner Favour was humiliated and
assaulted under the guise of looking for a phone.
The Police Commissioner, Odumosu, said investigation into the
missing phone, which led to pepper being inserted in Favour’s
private parts, revealed that no phone was stolen or missing.
Addressing FIDA, the state Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Yinka
Omorogbe, said the victim was accused of stealing the phone in
order to extort money from her.
He, however, assured the protesting women that the police would
carry out thorough investigation to ensure the case was not thrown
out by any judge.
The Chairperson of FIDA, Iryn Omorogiomwan, charged Odumosu to
ensure investigations were expedited so that all accused, if found
guilty, would be convicted.
The state governor’s wife, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki, said the crime
against Favour shocked human conscience and would not be tolerated
by Edo people. Mrs. Obaseki said her husband was very upset and
angered by the incident.
The Governor, Obaseki, who signed the bill at the Government
House, Benin, said he was aware that the bill touched on
fundamental practices among the people.
He promised that he was not only signing the bill as a formality,
but would ensure it was implemented to the letter.
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