On Thursday, March 19th, 2026, outrageous reactions gripped Nigeria following a widespread circulation of footages revealing shocking incidents where several footages captured women, female students included, were stripped naked and sexually assaulted during the so-called ‘Alue-Do’ festival in Ozoro, headquarters of Isoko North Local Government Area in Delta State.
The barbaric attacks have reintroduced the fierce debates on the horrific cultural practices, gender-based violence, and the urgent need for accountability in some Nigerian communities.
The events quickly attracted swift governmental action, arrests, and calls for justice from civil society groups. Several videos virally shared online showed how numbers of beasts-in-human flesh, prey on young women, dispossessed them of their dresses, and subjected the victims to degrading treatments — with majority of the footage capturing the incident to have happened in broad daylight.
Of a particular concern is a disturbing clip where a woman riding a motorcycle was yanked to the ground, assaulted, and left partially unclothed by mob attackers.
Another footage captured a fleeing victim whose dress was ripped off, exposing her to public humiliation, while a third uncovered a desperate woman shielding herself from a hungry crowd.
These multimedia contents shared widely since Friday have fueled national condemnation, as the precise number of victims is yet to be confirmed.
Barbaric Festival, What?
Local residents revealed that the ‘Alue-Do’ festival is a periodic rite customarily observed to invoke blessings for couples struggling with childbirth. However, it implemented disturbing restrictions, enforcing forceful curfew on women from during specific hours, with violators facing harassment from men in the community.
Allegedly, organizers often announced the commencement of the event, while explicitly warning women against outdoor movement within a stipulated timeframe.
While many women locked themselves indoors — highlighting the pervasive fear that gripped households as the ritual commenced — other women caught unaware remained targets of inhumane violence.
Actions From Authorities
The Delta State Government has since the emergence of the recent incident declared the custom as assault, barbaric and unacceptable, emphasizing that no cultural event should perpetuate criminality.
Also, Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Charles Aniagwu, issued a statement on Friday, urging security agencies to probe the matter thoroughly and ensure perpetrators face the consequential action.
The government’s position reflected the state’s stance against gender violence. “There can be no culture in any part of Nigeria that permits the targeting or discrimination of women,” Aniagwu stated.
Following the directives, the Nigeria Police Force acted decisively, arresting a community leader identified as Omorede Sunday who was alleged as the chief organizer, alongside four other suspects linked to the festival.
The detention was confirmed by the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe. He noted that the Commissioner of Police had ordered the transfer of the suspects to the State Criminal Investigation Department for deeper investigation.
Widespread Public Backlash
The incident has drawn immediate backlashes from individuals and civil society organisations, pressing for prosecution and systemic reform.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) labeled the assaults a national disgrace. Significantly, what caught the attention of the body was how women were accosted, stripped, and degraded in public while bystanders recorded, and cheered.
“No woman should ever have to endure such terror, such exposure, such violation of her dignity,” the NBA declared, lamenting “this must never happen again.”
Similarly, Womanifesto, a coalition of over 500 women’s rights organizations, framed the attacks as organized abuse before calling for immediate legal pain for the offender.
According to the statement released by the group’s Co-convener, Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi’s, their sentiment stressed the imperative to end impunity.
Fury campaign has littered the social media under hashtags like #StopRapingWomen, with users decrying the normalization of violence against women, thus questioning the festival’s legitimacy.
Videos analyzed by media outlets, including News Central TV, have sparked broader discussions on public safety, crowd control, and the misuse of cultural rites to perpetrate harm amid desperate global reflections on women’s rights.
Some media platforms reported that some victims’ condition required hospitalization, underlining the gravity of the tragedy. The evil-masquerade tradition, among others, have exposed deep necessity in reconciling culture with modern human rights standards, particularly in Nigeria’s diverse ethnic landscapes.
This revealed why customs justifying inhumanity, promoting sexual violence, while endangering women, should be fight with stern and effective legal framework.
Probe Intensifies
While the Ovie of Ozoro Kingdom, His Royal Majesty Anthony Ogbogbo, denied the existence of the festival, saying he wasn’t aware of such culture, several suspects have been under custody.
“I have more than 200 videos and photographs of what transpired. Government officials, kings across the world have been calling me to know what is happening,” the king was quoted in a report.
“I have been a king for more than 20 years. I have never heard that a festival is celebrated with girls being harassed, sexually molested or raped in my community all in the name of a festival.”
The Delta police command has confirmed the arrest of eleven additional suspects linked to alleged sexual assault in the Ozoro community.
The Delta police spokesperson, Bright Edafe, disclosed it in a statement issued on Saturday in Asaba, following a crackdown on those allegedly involved. Identified among them are Samson Atukpodo, Steven Ovie, Ugbevo Samson, Afoke Akporobaro, Evidence Oguname, and six others.