(Enugu, 11 April 2018). The attention of the Enugu State Government has been drawn to an editorial published today by ThisDay newspaper alleging that over 20 girls were sexually assaulted at a Music Concert in Enugu.”
We are concerned about an unfortunate conclusion in the
editorial to the effect that Enugu State Government has not shown “much
concern” in pursuing justice for alleged rape victims during the 31 March 2018 concert
organized by the musician, Flavour, in Enugu, and more particularly on the editorial rider that "the state could do more to reverse the upsurge in crime."
For the record, Enugu State today has been adjudged as the safest state in Nigeria. Where is the evidence that ThisDay relies on to pronounce that there is an upsurge in crime in the State? The unfortunate suggestion that there is an upsurge in crime could only have come from the warped imagination of this editorial writer, because it is not anchored on anything beyond an unverified April Fool tweet.
Secondly, all fact-finding efforts so far made by the Enugu State
Government on the alleged rape incident have failed to establish that a
gang-rape took place and at the grand scale promoted by social media mischief-makers.
As of today, there have been no credible eyewitness accounts,
no report of sexual assaults at the concert by relations of alleged victims, no
reports to the Police of assault by alleged victims themselves, and no video or audio
recording of such an incident in the social media where the allegation has been
trending.
Ordinarily, we would have applauded the ThisDay editorial
because we share in its overall noble theme, which is to draw deserved attention to the
plight of rape victims and the need to install safeguards and processes to
protect women and girls from rapists. Rape is not a crime that should be
rationalized in whatever circumstances given the irreparable physical and
psychological damage the victims suffer.
We, however, believe that claims about rape should never be self-evident.
This underscores our concern that a respected national newspaper such as
ThisDay would levy a weighty allegation against a state government based on an unverified
and discredited social media tweet. This, even after the Enugu State Government spokesperson and the Enugu State Police Command have separately stated that there have not been official
reports of the incident and no independent third-party confirmation that it did
take place. The Police have also issued a final statement indicating that there is no merit whatsoever in the allegation.
This bizarre tale of rape in Enugu originated in what is
apparently an April Fool tweet by someone who indicated her location as Lagos,
was neither at the event nor is from Enugu State. It was retweeted several
times and eventually ended up in a blog that copiously quoted the original
April Fool Tweet.
Ogbuagu Anikwe
Hon.
Commissioner
Ministry of
Information
Enugu State
