Three persons have been remanded in prison custody for allegedly abducting and inserting raw pepper in the private parts of a woman, Favour Ada, over alleged phone theft.
The suspects include the head of a vigilance group in Ugbiyoko community, Mr. Lucky Igbinovia, popularly called One Man Squad. Others are Joel Otoghile and Iyamu Kingsley.
They were arraigned on 14-count charge bordering on unlawful attempt to kill, kidnapping, attempted murder, unlawful administering noxious substance in the private parts of the victim and unlawful trial by ordeal.
Other charges include indecent assault, extortion by threat, publication of defamatory matters, false accusation, stripping of the victim naked and recording the scene on video.
Prosecuting counsel Peter Ugwumba urged Justice J. Acha of a High Court in Edo State to remand the suspects in prison custody pending legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
He told the court that investigations showed that no phone was missing, adding that the lie was concocted to extort money from the victim.
Ugwumba said a magician/native doctor, yet to be arrested, magically inserted two live bullets in the body of Ada, saying she would die if she refused to confess.
Justice Acha remanded the suspects in prison custody and adjourned the case till March 6.
He ordered the prosecution to produce other suspects at large in court, especially the magician/native doctor who accused Ada of stealing the phone belonging to Joel.
A video of Ada had gone viral, which showed her nakedness and substances being inserted in her private parts by some men, who accused her of stealing an iPhone worth N450,000.
Narrating her ordeal, Ada said she followed her friend to visit some boys, whom they met taking a hard drug mixed with a soft drink.
She said she was surprised when the boys later accused her of stealing their brother’s phone.
Ada said her denial fell on deaf ears and she was assaulted.
“The next day, they took me to a native doctor and after some incantation, the man wrote our names on a paper. My name disappeared from the paper. I cried and the man inserted two bullets in my body.
“I begged him to remove the bullets. He said I would die if I continued to lie. Because I was afraid, I told him that I stole the stole. I did this out of fear. He then removed the bullets.
“The boys beat me up and inserted pepper in my private parts. My colleagues later contributed money and we gave the boys N260,000, promising to pay the balance. I was surprised when I found out that they have posted the video of how I was stripped naked and tortured on the Internet.”
The owner of the phone, Joel, said he had just returned from Ghana and was having a drink with the girls and his relatives when he discovered that his phone was missing.
He said the people responsible for inserting raw pepper in Ada’s private parts and posting the video on the Internet had fled, adding that he reported himself to the police.
Commissioner Hakeem Odumosu said the matter was not reported to the police until it went viral on the Internet.
He warned people to desist from taking the law into their hands and vowed that the suspects would be prosecuted.