AFTER ARRESTING 70 WOMEN FROM DIFFERENT NIGHT CLUBS IN ABUJA, NIGERIA POLICEMEN ALLEGEDLY DO THE UNTHINKABLE TO THEM – SEE DETAILS

The recent raid at different nightclubs in Abuja testifies to an incipient moral policing that is slowly being introduced in Abuja. This policing process is heavily biased against women and must be nipped in the bud. Feminists and human rights campaigners must call out this obnoxious trend because the law is being used to legitimize and mask what is patently a very oppressive and iniquitous process. About two weeks after police officers arrested 30 women at different night clubs in Abuja, another 70 women have been arrested.

According to reports, the latest arrests were done on Saturday night and the victims were taken to and detained at a police station. Martin Obono, a lawyer and activist, said he witnessed when the women were brought to a police station in Utako, Abuja on Saturday night. He said some of the women were accused of prostitution. He also suggested some had been sexually abused by the security officials.

Mr Obono shared his experience on Twitter, saying, “As I type, 70 girls were arrested and brought to Utako Police station last night. This is in addition to the ones who were arrested on Friday night. Their offence; clubbing and in some instance, prostitution. Some have been assaulted with injuries in their vagina. One of the ladies arrested has a 2-month old baby. She wasn’t allowed to breastfeed her baby by CRO in charge on duty despite continuous plea amidst tears.

“It took the intervention of a female police officer who called the DPO to overrule the decision of the inspector at the time. The joint task force that arrested some of these girls have been allegedly molesting and assaulting them. Some even showed the bruises and bleeding in their vaginas.”

This is coming two weeks after Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) officials had reportedly raided a popular night club, Caramelo in Abuja and arrested 34 strippers. According to Premium Times, the front perimeter fence of the nightclub was also destroyed during the raid on Wednesday night. The Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council, Umar Shuaibu, while addressing Journalists on Thursday, April 18, 2019, said the club was raided by the FCTA Joint Task Team, which comprises of the Department of Development Control, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) and the Social Development Secretariat (SDS). He said the club which is located at Utako district of Abuja was raided following complaints from residents of the area.

Now let’s examine the complaints. They included “noise nuisance from loud party music, nude/strip dancing club activities, intractable traffic challenge”. The officials said that they raided the building after investigating and validating these complaints. In addition, a municipal officer who led the team, Umar Shuaibu, said that the club was raided because the property was approved for a health clinic but the clinic was later turned into a nightclub. And the operator of the Caramelo nightclub had been told severally to stop operations to no avail.

Now it is a welcome development that the FCTA authorities are trying to combat noise pollution in Abuja. This is a fantastic initiative. But it seems that they have made Caramelo a scapegoat. This is because there are many pubs in Abuja where they play loud music, very loud music, as they do in Caramelo. But these places are still operating. So, why have they not raided these clubs and pubs?  Again, if the FCTA authorities were mainly concerned about noise pollution, they should have provided regulations for loud party music that applied to all institutions including churches and mosques.

Source: Premium Times/Pulse Nigeria