The police in Bayelsa State have apprehended six teenage boys at the state government’s Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp at Ox-Bow Lake in Yenagoa, the state capital, over alleged sodomy.
The men of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of the State Police Command effected the arrest of the teenage boys, whose ages range between 14 to 16.
It was gathered that the arrest came after the alarm was raised by some persons at the camp and reported to the IDP Coordinator and member of the State House of Assembly, Koku Obiyah Ebiowo (Yenagoa 3).
Ebiowo was said to have immediately involved the police to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
It was also gathered that the teenage boys involved were residents of the displaced Cameroon Camp along the submerged area of Azikoro Village road.
Spokesman for the Bayelsa Police Command, Asinim Butswat, confirmed the development.
Butswat, a Superintendent of Police, said because those allegedly involved in the sodomy were minors, the police would release them to their parents.
He, however, said that the police would conduct a discreet investigation over a possible influence by adults if any.
A source at the IDP camp said the proactive nature and vigilance of the IDP camp management committee led to the quick arrest of the situation.
The source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The boys were discovered to have been engaging in the sodomy every night by the waterside near the IDP camp.
“On Thursday, someone alerted one of perpetrators’ parents about the act of her child and the mother immediately informed the camp management committee.”
Meanwhile, an advocacy group, the Gender Response Initiative Team (GRIT) led by its Chairman, Barrister Dise Ogbise, visited the camp to intensify sensitisation campaign by educating the inhabitants of the various IDP camps to guard against illicit sexual acts including homosexuality, sodomy and prostitution.
Also speaking, a member of GRIT and Chairperson of National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Comrade Maria Osumah, also urged the residents of the IDP camps not to be cowed by the threats of violence or death after they were violated.