TAKE IT BACK MOVEMENT, DELTA STATE CHAPTER, BLASTS OZORO COMMUNITY OVER BARBARIC ASSAULT AND RAPE OF WOMEN – DEMANDS MASS ARRESTS NOW

PRESS STATEMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 20, 2026

TAKE IT BACK MOVEMENT, DELTA STATE CHAPTER, BLASTS OZORO COMMUNITY OVER BARBARIC ASSAULT AND RAPE OF WOMEN – DEMANDS MASS ARRESTS NOW

The Take It Back Movement, Delta State Chapter, condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the shameful, barbaric, and disgraceful acts of assault and rape carried out against innocent women during a so called festival in Ozoro, Delta State.

What happened in Ozoro is not culture – it is pure criminality, madness, and a complete collapse of human decency. Reports of harassment, physical attacks, and rape of women, under the guise of a festival, represent one of the darkest examples of lawlessness and moral decay in recent times. Any community that organizes or tolerates such acts has no moral standing to speak of tradition or heritage.

We say it clearly: Ozoro must be ashamed.

A festival that turns women into targets of violence and sexual abuse is not a festival – it is a coordinated criminal operation. The men who participated in this atrocity are not custodians of culture; they are perpetrators of serious crimes, who must be treated as such.

We are deeply angered that such evil could happen in broad daylight, while some community actors looked away or, worse, enabled it. Silence, in the face of this brutality, is complicity.

The Take It Back Movement, therefore, issues a direct and uncompromising demand to the Delta State Police Command:
1. Immediately identify and arrest ALL individuals involved, not a few scapegoats
2. Arrest the organisers and enforcers of this so called festival
3. Investigate community leaders who sanctioned or failed to stop this violence and abuse
4. Ensure swift prosecution, no cover ups, no settlements, no backdoor compromises

Anything short of this will confirm what many Nigerians already fear, that justice is selective, and that violence and sexual abuse against women are tolerated.

We refuse to accept that narrative.

Let it be known: no culture is above the law. No tradition is above human rights. Any practice that thrives on fear, violence, and the degradation of women must be dismantled, without apology.

To the women who were attacked, humiliated, and violated, we stand with you. Your pain is valid, and your demand for justice is justified.

To the Ozoro community, this is a defining moment. You either reject this barbarity and cooperate fully with justice, or you stand exposed before the world as defenders of violence and abuse.

To the Delta State Government and security agencies, this is a test of your integrity. Nigerians are watching. The world is watching.

The Take It Back Movement will not remain silent. We are prepared to mobilize lawful resistance and sustained advocacy until justice is fully served.

Enough is enough. No more excuses. No more silence. Arrest them all.

Signed:
Comrade Ochuko Famili
Coordinator, Take It Back Movement
Delta State Chapter