Alleged theft: Two arrested for stripping girls naked in Ebonyi

The Ebonyi State Police Command has arrested two men for allegedly stripping two teenage girls and flogging them over allegations concerning theft.

The police vowed to prosecute the suspects to serve as a deterrent to others against taking the laws into their own hands.

The teenage girls in a video, which has since gone viral, were stripped naked and made to undergo various dehumanising treatments over allegations of theft.

They were flogged and forced to parade the community naked with the fowls (chickens) they allegedly stole.
The incident happened in Ojiegbe, Ngbo community in the Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state.

The incident,  it was gathered, happened in November 2023 but the video surfaced this week.

Its circulation drew wide condemnation from the public, who described the treatment as dehumanising.
They called on security agencies to investigate the incident and prosecute all those involved in the inhuman treatment of the teenage girls.

“Share it until it gets to the government authorities. These girls were subjected to inhuman treatment.  Criminal cases have legal punishment stipulated in the criminal code.

“Anyone caught in this situation should be handed over to the police; this treatment is too much for those small underage girls,” a resident said in the video.

On receipt of the complaints, the Police Command in Ebonyi swung into action and arrested the suspects, Dennis Ali and Ituma Sunday, in connection to the incident.

Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Joshua Ukandu, in a Tuesday statement, said those involved in the dehumanising of the girls have been nabbed.

According to him, “The Ebonyi State Police Command has arrested Dennis Ali and Ituma Sunday, the primary suspects in a disturbing viral video where two teenage girls were stripped, flogged, and dehumanised.

“The incident occurred in November 2023 at Ojiegbe Ngbo community in Ohaukwu LGA.”