Girl, 26 hounded for embarking on good governance advocacy, arrested, tortured
A 26-year-old democracy, and good governance advocate, Miss Benedicta Ottah has gone underground following constant police arrest, torture and sexual harassment as a fallout of her activism against bad governance in Nigeria.
Benedicta, a former employee of a formidable bank in Nigeria where she became aware of the rot and the manipulative tendencies of corrupt government officials and their collaborators in the banking industry became deeply disturbed by the state of governance in Nigeria and that made her to be a constant target for arrest and persecution.
Her concerns about the widespread corruption, human rights abuse, and economic mismanagement that have led to mass suffering, insecurity, and absence of basic amenities like electricity, good roads, and affordable fuel propelled her participation in the August 2024, #EndBadGovernance, Nation wide protests which aimed to demand transparency, accountability, and better leadership in Nigeria.
In a bid to find an aliber to halt and criminalize the otherwise peaceful protest, the Nigerian government, through its security forces and political thugs, responded with excessive force resulting in her arrest.
Some of the protesters including Miss Benedicta Ottah were apprehended, beaten, and allegedly sexually assaulted by agents of politicians who were sent to suppress their activism.
“I was then detained at Kirikiri Prison without any formal charge. During my detention, I was subjected to inhumane treatment, including torture and sexual violence, in an attempt to break my spirit and silence my activism.
“Thanks to the intervention of human rights activist Omoyele Sowore, I was granted bail after spending almost two weeks in detention under brutal conditions. Fearing for my life, I fled to my hometown in Agbor, Delta State, on August 16, 2024, as my residence in Lagos was no longer safe”, said Benedicta after she was released from detention in August, 2024.
As part of the dehumanizing primitive measures deployed by agents of State include the circulation of her name and image in the media, making her a direct target for state surveillance and further attacks resulting in her arrest and public parade in addition to forced to sign an undertaking never to protest again under duress.
Her latest ordeal came after she participated in the January 11, 2025, protest against the lack of electricity, poor road infrastructure, hunger, and the rising fuel prices in Nigeria that resulted in her arrest and determination for 29 days in Alagbon police station.
Besides the arrest, she was reportedly threatened by the authorities of State that she could face harsher consequences, including indefinite incarceration, forced disappearance and possibly lose her life if she continued with her activism.
