Delta festival assault sparks outrage over attack on women

By: Abudu Olalekan

What was meant to be a cultural celebration in Ozoro, Delta State, has now turned into something else entirely. Something disturbing.

Several women — including students — were reportedly stripped and sexually assaulted during the ‘Alue-Do’ festival on Thursday, March 19. By Friday, videos had already spread online. And they were hard to watch.

In one clip, a young woman sitting on a motorcycle is dragged down, her clothes torn as a group surrounds her. Another shows a girl running, trying to hold onto her dress while hands pull at it. There’s shouting. Confusion. No one stepping in. Just chaos.

No one seems to know exactly how many victims there are yet. The numbers are still unclear.

Locals say the festival is a traditional fertility rite, usually held to pray for couples seeking children. But it comes with rules. Strict ones. Women are expected to stay indoors at certain hours. Step outside—and you risk being targeted. That’s the reality people described.

Some residents say they didn’t take chances.

“We locked ourselves in,” one woman told Reportersroom quietly, asking not to be named. According to her, there was an announcement warning women not to go out once the ritual began. Still, not everyone understood how serious it would get.

Shops shut down. Streets emptied. Non-indigenes reportedly left town in a hurry.

On TikTok, a user named Vallery wrote, “So bad. I locked myself inside the house.” Another, Slim Mama, said she was too scared to even step outside her door.

Even the traditional ruler of Ozoro, HRM Anthony Ogbogbo, seemed taken aback. Speaking from his palace, he said he had never seen anything like it.

“I’ve been king for over 20 years,” he said. “A festival where girls are harassed or molested? I’ve never heard of that here.”

Student leaders confirmed some victims are from Southern Delta University. The Students’ Union President, Oribelua Precious, said they visited those receiving treatment.

Doctors, he noted, said there was no confirmed rape—but there was molestation. And attempted rape? That alone is serious enough.

He didn’t hold back. “Who knows what happened where there were no cameras,” he said. “We’re only seeing what was recorded.”

Community leaders have since come out to condemn the incident, calling the actions of the youths irresponsible and not part of their culture. They say security agencies are now involved.

And they are.

The Delta State Government has already described the incident as “barbaric.” Commissioner Charles Aniagwu made it clear—culture is not an excuse for crime. Not here.

Police have arrested a community leader, Omorede Sunday, along with four others believed to be involved in organising the event. According to police spokesperson Bright Edafe, the case has been transferred to the State CID. Investigations are ongoing.

His words were blunt: no tradition is above the rights of citizens.

At the federal level, the Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has also called for swift action. Arrest everyone involved, she said. No delays. No cover-ups.

Across the country, reactions have been sharp.

Former Education Minister Oby Ezekwesili didn’t mince words. She called it a failure of leadership and policing. Others online questioned how something like this could happen without any warning or intervention.

Some believe this wasn’t random. It felt coordinated. Planned, even.

Lawyers and rights advocates are saying the same thing in different ways: there is no version of culture that justifies this. None.

Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong put it plainly—any practice that restricts women or exposes them to harm is unconstitutional. End of story.

And a coalition of over 500 women’s rights groups, under Womanifesto, called the incident what they believe it is: organised abuse.

Not culture. Not tradition. Abuse.

They’re demanding arrests. Prosecution. Accountability.

Because at the center of all this noise, all the statements, all the outrage—are the women in those videos. Frightened. Exposed. Trying to get away.

And that shouldn’t be normal. Not anywhere. Not for any reason.