NBA condemns sexual assault of women at Ozoro Festival, calls it a national disgrace

By James Ike

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has strongly condemned the reported sexual assaults and public humiliation of women at a recent festival in Ozoro, Delta State, describing the acts as a “national disgrace” and a collapse of societal conscience.

According to disturbing reports, women were allegedly chased, groped, forcefully stripped, and sexually assaulted by mobs of young men during the festival, while some onlookers reportedly cheered or recorded the attacks.

In a statement, NBA President Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, and NBA Women Forum Chairperson Huwaila Muhammad stressed that no cultural or traditional practice can justify such violence. “What took place was not culture.

It was lawlessness and Gender-Based Violence, GBA, in its most primitive and shameful form,” the statement read.

The NBA called on the Delta State Government and law enforcement agencies to act swiftly, urging that all perpetrators, as well as those who aided or failed to intervene, be identified, arrested, and prosecuted. “Justice must not be delayed, and it must not be selective,” the statement said.

The association also implored community leaders, traditional institutions, and festival organisers to ensure that cultural celebrations reflect dignity, order, and respect for human life, rather than chaos and cruelty.

“The protection of women is not optional. It is a legal duty. It is a moral obligation. It is a test of who we are as a people,” the NBA leaders stressed. “This must never happen again.”