SaharaReporters has learned that 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.
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.