Reports say that a 47-year-old man named Mr. Emi Sigah died after being beaten in the Ekowe town of Bayelsa State’s Southern Ijaw Local Government Area. He was accused of raping a 10-year-old girl.
It was learned that the event took place yesterday.
It was stated that the dead person fell after getting roughly 40 strokes of a cane, which is a common penalty in the community for people suspected of rape and can be as many as 120 strokes.
People in Ekowe say that this has been going on for a long time. Each of the 12 families gives 10 strokes of the cane, for a total of 120 strokes, to stop sexual offenses, which the community sees as a sin.
It was learned that the victim of the rape (name withheld) had gone with her aunt to a nearby farm to pick okra. The suspect then reportedly attacked her as her aunt was leading the way back from the field.
People reported that the perpetrator was caught in the neighboring bush allegedly assaulting the youngster.
Then, according to the archaic ways of the Ekowe community, the culprit was forced to go through a 120-flogging marathon. He passed out after 40 strokes and was subsequently pronounced dead.
Some people in the community sought to step in and offered between N50,000 and N15,000 as choices for the flogging, but the young people in the community said that the practice had to be followed to set an example for others.
Mr. Target Segibo, the Chairman of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, stated in a statement from his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ayebaitari Easterday, that the council and security forces acted quickly to restore normalcy to the community.
He stated that the youth president of the community and three other people have been arrested in connection with the suspect’s killing. They are now being held at the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) of the Bayelsa State Police Command in Yenagoa.
Mr. Easterday further said that the police in Oporoma town, which is the capital of Southern Ijaw LGA, along with council officials, have taken the suspect’s body to the Federal Medical Centre morgue in Yenagoa.
He said the council denounced what the community kids did, calling it “alien” to modern ways of dealing with criminal situations. He also urged people to report criminal suspects to the right authorities instead of taking the law into their own hands.
He said, “The Council does not agree with the horrible attempted rape of the minor, but the actions of the youths are strange.”
“It would have been good if they had told the police about it so that the law could take its course.
“The Council chairman is now out of state, so a high-level delegation from the Council, led by the Special Adviser on Security Matters, stood in for him.
“And of course, security agents were incredibly helpful in stopping what could have been a very catastrophic incident. We thank the family and the Ekowe community for choosing peace and not letting the situation go worse.
When asked, DSP Musa Mohammed, the Bayelsa State Police Public Relations Officer, indicated that the event had not yet been confirmed but that investigations were still going on.
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