Policing Allegations of Penis Theft in Rivers State

A recent case in a community in Rivers state has revealed worrisome gaps and disconnects in policing and management of allegations of penis theft in Nigeria. A video that circulated on social media two days ago showed a young man being beaten and manhandled by officers of the Rivers State Vigilante Group, OSPAC. The Facebook post by Oriental Times states: "Rivers State Vigilante Group, OSPAC, apprehends man in Igwuruta for allegedly stealing another man's penis, a few minutes after begging him for money". The video shows a man being beaten and interrogated by a suspected officer of OSPAC. One officer asked his name, and he said, "Daso". He asked him, "Are you from where?" He said, "From Okirika". The officer then said, " So you came from Okrika to make a person to lose his penis?

The accused denied the allegation. A local advocate told AfAW that the incident started when the accuser held the accused at the Igwuruta roundabout in Ikwerre. The mob gathered and started beating the accused. But some OSPAC officers intervened. They took the accused by the side, tied the hands with a rope as they interrogated him. They were beating, kicking, slapping and coercing him to admit to magically stealing the penis. Daso had injuries no his head. The OSPAC officers tore his clothes.

The accuser told officers that Daso had touched him, and his penis disappeared. The officers checked, but the penis was intact. The accuser claimed that the penis shrank and was not operative. That Daso had made him sexually impotent.

The officers took the accuser and the accused to a nearby police station. But the Divisional Police Officer(DPO) was not on seat. Daso was detained, but the accuser was allowed to go. The DPO interviewed both parties the follow day. He told them that the police did not handle mystical or magical matters. However, the DPO told the parties that if they did not resolve the matter, he would charge the case in court today so that the court decides. Daso remained in police custody.

The Advocacy for Alleged Witches condemns the allegation of penis theft against Daso and the mismanagement by officers of OSPAC and the police. He who alleges proves. The burden of proof of penis theft is with the accuser, not the accused. Those who make allegations of magical penis theft violate the law. They raise false alarms and incite violence and abuse of suspects. Those who alleged magical penis theft should be tried, prosecuted, and jailed. It is wrong for the officers of OSPAC to have beaten and abused Daso. It is wrong for the police to have detained the accused because he committed no crime. Nobody can magically thieve or disappear the penis.

AfAW calls for the arrest and prosecution of Daso's accuser. AfAW urges the authorities to arrest and prosecute OSPAC officers and others who assaulted, tortured, and brutalized Mr Daso. All erring police and vigilante officers should be queried and punished for their unprofessional conduct, and for abusing a person that they were constitutionally mandated to protect and defend. Accusations of penis theft have no basis in law, reason, science, or reality. AfAW urges the Nigerian public to abandon superstition and embrace science and critical thinking. AfAW has offered to test the man who claimed that his penis was magically stolen. The Advocacy for Alleged Witches is sending a legal counsel to the Divisional Police Office to facilitate the release of the victim.

Help is on the way.
Leo Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches.