Gang Rape Of Edo Minor: BraveHeart Warns Against Sharing Video

The BraveHeart Initiative has warned the public against viewing or sharing a graphic video of a minor being gang raped in Enwan, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area, Edo State.

The NGO, in a post on Facebook on Thursday, warned that such acts violate the Cybercrime Act of 2015, which regards distributing or transmitting child pornography as a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment for 10 years or a fine of not less than N20m, or both fine and imprisonment.

It added that possessing child pornography is also a criminal offence punishable by five years imprisonment or a fine of not less than N10m, or both fine and imprisonment.

The organisation said it received reports on Wednesday of a trending video online involving four young men who sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl. The rape, according to the NGO, took place last Saturday at Enwan community, and the girl was threatened into silence.

It added that the family of the victim only discovered the incident when the young men uploaded the video online.

“It was when the young men uploaded the video that the girl’s family discovered that their child had been sexually assaulted and a formal report made to the police,” the team said.

It further stated that while police investigation is ongoing, another family came forward with a video of their own daughter who was raped by the same set of boys, now increased from four to seven in the second video. They allegedly assaulted the second girl barely 24 hours after the first.

The NGO said they are not sure of the total number of victims/survivors but are currently providing support to the survivors and their families while also sensitizing the public about the criminal implications of disseminating such videos.

It appealed to the Edo State government to review existing SGBV laws to adequately sanction online sexual violence, while also urging the public to report such videos to appropriate authorities and stop victim shaming of rape survivors.