Officers of the anti-kidnapping squad of the Bayelsa State Police Command have arrested six boys at the Bayelsa State Government Internally Displaced Camp located at the Ox-Bow Lake in Yenagoa, the State capital over alleged sodomy.
The teenagers whose ages are between 14 and 16 years were arrested after an alarm was raised by persons at the camp and reported to the IDP Coordinator and member of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Koku Obiyah Ebiowo (Yenagoa 3).
Report has it that the teenage boys involved, were residents of the displaced Cameroon camp located along the submerged area of Azikoro road and may have been influenced by that area.
The spokesperson of the Bayelsa Police Command, Asinim Butswat, while confirming the development, said because those allegedly involved in sodomy are minors, “the police will release them to their parents but will also conduct a discreet investigation over the possible influence of an adult if any.”
A source from the IDP camp told newsmen that the proactive nature and vigilance of the IDP camp management committee led to the quick arrest of the situation, stating that, “the boys were discovered to have been engaging in the sodomy act every night at the waterside. On Thursday, someone alerted one of the perpetrator’s parents about the act of her child and the mother immediately informed the camp management committee.”
However, the state gender advocacy group; Gender Response Initiative team led by its Chairman, Barr. Dise Ogbise, visited the camp to intensify the sensitization campaign by educating the inhabitants of the various IDP camps to guide against illicit sexual acts including homosexuality, sodomy, and prostitution.
Speaking during the sensitization campaign, Barr. Dise Ogbise urged the residents of the camps particularly the under aged to protect themselves against sexual violation and violence, urging them to speak out if violated by anyone within and outside the IDP camps.
She said that, “we have observed that during an emergency gathering of people such as IDP camps, there are worrisome rises in illicit sexual acts and violations. We are here to educate them and urge them to tell if violated.”
Also speaking, a member of GRIT and Chairperson of the National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Comrade Marial Olodi Osumah, also urged the residents of the IDP camps not to be cowed by the threats of violence or death after they are violated, “but that they should reach out to the various gender advocacy groups or the Police to report a such violation.”
In her submission, the IDP coordinator and member of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Koku Obiyah Ebiowo (Yenagoa 3), while expressing concern over recent observations in the camp, commended the gender Aladvocacy group, GRIT, over the sensitization visit to the camp.