Torture

A woman in
Lagos State was last week subjected to the
extreme torture of having ground pepper
smeared on her genitalia, causing the woman to
develop mental instability.
A woman brutally tortured by family
Civil society activists told our correspondent that the
victim of the latest savage violation is 25-year-old
Opeyemi Amuda who resides in Ikorodu, Lagos State.
According to our sources, the victim, who was married
four years ago, was on June 15, 2015 subjected to the
unusual form of torture by her in-laws.
The in-laws, who are self-confessed members of a
witchcraft society, accused their victim of using
ingredients forbidden by their witch society to cook a
meal for them. They reportedly alleged that Mrs.
Amuda, as a fellow member of the same witchcraft
society, knew that the ingredients she used were
abominable to members of their group.
For her offense, the woman’s in-laws mixed ground
peppers with local gin and poured the concoction in
her private part.
Civil society activists who have taken up the matter
told SaharaReporters that Mrs. Amuda’s husband was
not at home when his wife was attacked, but later
backed his relatives’ action.
Adebayo Obatungashe, the community secretary of
Igbo-Olomu in Ikorodu West, who is also a coordinator
for the Women Arise civil society group in Ikorodu, said
that the woman’s assailants had used crude means to
smear their concoction inside their victim’s private
parts. Mr. Obatungashe added that the torturers
thereafter threw the victim out of the house.
He disclosed that his group contacted the police on
the matter. “Knowing that the matter was grievous
and the torturers are very influential in Ikorodu, we
mounted pressure to get the police to take it seriously.
I also involved the Women Arise President,” Mr.
Obatungashe said.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ken
Nwosu, confirmed that the matter had been
transferred to Panti Police Station for investigation by
the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
President of Women Arise, Joe Okei-Odumakin, posted
about the incident on Twitter. She wrote that the
horrific act was similar to an earlier pepper torture of
three females in Ejigbo area of Lagos State. Mrs. Okei-
Odumakin said the victim was now mentally unstable
as a result of the trauma.
“She has now been taken to a rehabilitation center in
Ikorodu and the Office of Public Defender (OPD) has
provided a lawyer for the victim,” she said, adding that
the perpetrators were being detained at Ikoyi prison.
“It is a bestial act. The victim is from [a] very poor
background and they [perpetrators] are taking
advantage of this. It is very unreasonable to mistreat
anyone because they are poor under allegation of
witchcraft,” said Okei-Odumakin