Militants rape, film abducted women in Akwa Ibom

Niger Delta militants in Akwa Ibom State, some days ago abducted several market women and whisked them to their hideouts in the creeks.

The victims were, at gunpoint, forced to strip while their captors sexually molested them and took pictures of their private part with their phones.

NDV reports that the women from different communities in the state and neighbouring Cross River State were returning from Nwaniba community market in Uruan local government when over 10 masked men ambushed the two speedboats conveying them.

A victim, Mrs. Christiana Sunday John, who spoke through an interpreter, said: “We were badly treated, our womanhood was abused. I joined the second speed boat going back home when midway into our journey; another speed boat from nowhere blocked us.

”To my greatest surprise, the boat was conveying over 10 hefty masked men, two of the armed masked men jumped into our boat and ordered the boat operator to take to one of their camps in the creeks.

“The two armed men robbed the 25 of us on board the speed boat before we got to their destination.

“At the camp, they forced us to pull-off, we were forced to pull everything to the pant and they asked at gunpoint to expose our private parts while they took several shots with their camera phones.

“Most of the women, who initially proved stubborn, went home with machete cuts. Two boats loaded with women returning from Nwaniba Market were attacked.

“After their evil operation, they removed the boat engines, living us stranded in their camp. They collected N70,000, which was all I had on me, now I do not know how to start all over again.”

Chairman, Nwaniba Village Council, Elder Samuel Jeo, told NDV that “the saddest thing was that mothers and wives of our men were forced to dance nude while they were being filmed”.

“This is the most embarrassing criminal operation in Nwaniba. We built that market with community effort, now militants have closed down the market.

“No customer would want to come here and risk his or her life. The market was built two years ago, now we cannot generate revenue because of the effect of militancy and pirates who are terrorizing the area on a daily basis”.

Elder Jeo said militants and pirates were operating freely in the area, recalling that on June 27, they killed many persons and razed about four villages, including Edile Ikpa, Ufak-Effiong, Akpa-Mfurukim and Akara Obio Uruan.

“Last week, we recovered the decomposed remains of Enang of Mbiakong village, killed with his machete in his cassava farm. In Nwaniba, we are living in fear, no government protection,” he bemoaned.

Also speaking, a prominent Nwaniba community leader, Chief Emmanuel Ben Akpan, said: Our men can no longer go for fishing to feed the family while the women cannot go to the market or farm; we are stranded.”

In his reaction, Chairman, Uruan local government, Dr. Edwin Okon, decried that his people in the fishing communities have suffered untold hardship in the hands of militants, who always cross into Akwa Ibom through the waterways.

“We have lost countless numbers of people to these militants and we want government and other agencies, including the National Emergency Manage-ment Agency (NEMA) and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to come to the aid of the displaced people”, he said.

Akwa Ibom Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, DSP Chukwu Ikechukwu, said: “Failure of the community to file the matter with the Police in the area was hampering investigation and action on the problem.”