The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has condemned the s£xual assault of women during a festival in Ozoro, Delta State, describing the incidents as a national disgrace and a profound failure of law, morality and leadership.
In a statement released on Friday, the association said women were openly chased, stripped, groped and s£xually violated in public during the festival, while groups of young men carried out the attacks and others watched, filmed and applauded.
The NBA said the acts were not isolated excesses but a clear display of lawlessness and gender-based violence.
According to the association, what occurred in Ozoro cannot be described as culture or celebration, but a breakdown of social order and respect for human dignity.
The statement read:
"A society reveals its true character in how it treats its women. Where women are chased, stripped, groped, violated, and publicly humiliated by mobs under the guise of celebration, what is on display is not culture. It is barbarity. It is a collapse of conscience. It is a stain on our shared humanity.
"The deeply disturbing reports emerging from a recent festival in Ozoro, Delta State are not just troubling, they are horrifying. Women were allegedly accosted in broad daylight, forcefully stripped of their clothing, sexually assaulted, and subjected to degrading treatment by groups of young men while others watched, recorded, and, in some instances, cheered. No woman should ever have to endure such terror, such exposure, such violation of her dignity.
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"This was not a festival. This was lawlessness. This was gender-based violence in its most primitive and shameful form.
"These acts amount to a grave violation of the fundamental rights to dignity of the human person, personal liberty, and security as guaranteed under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), as well as other international human rights instruments. They also constitute serious criminal offences under our laws, including assault, sexual violence, and public indecency.
"The NBA condemns these acts in the strongest possible terms. No tradition, no custom, no so-called cultural practice can excuse or legitimise the degradation and violation of women. Any practice that permits such cruelty is not culture. It is criminality.
"We call on the Delta State Government and all relevant law enforcement agencies to act swiftly and decisively. The perpetrators must be identified, arrested, and prosecuted. Those who aided, enabled, or failed to intervene must also be held accountable. Justice must not be delayed, and it must not be selective.
"Silence, indifference, or excuses in the face of such brutality only embolden further abuse.
"We further call on community leaders, traditional institutions, and festival organisers to take urgent responsibility. Cultural celebrations must never become theatres of violence. They must reflect dignity, order, and respect for human life, not chaos and cruelty.
"The protection of women is not optional. It is a legal duty. It is a moral obligation. It is a test of who we are as a people. Nigeria must not become a place where women live in fear of being stripped of both their clothing and their dignity in public spaces.
"This must never happen again!"