Photos: Protesters storm Police command in Abuja over ‘rape of sex workers’

This morning, Some protesters stormed the federal capital territory (FCT) police command over the alleged rape of some commercial sex workers by some policemen.

The protest comes after a joint task force raided Caramelo, a popular strip club, in the nation’s capital, and arrested some strippers last week. The task force also arrested suspected sex workers in different parts of Abuja and some of those arrested were allegedly raped by police officers.

In response to the allegation, the FCT police command said it had set up a “high power” team to probe the allegations, but the protesters stormed the command on Saturday, demanding that the culprits be punished publicly. 

They also held placards which read “Sex for bail is rape”, “To be a woman is not a crime”, “You should protect us not harm us”, among others.

Addressing reporters in front of the command, Rebecca Umar, leader of the protest, said police are supposed to defend women and not rape them.  

“We are here to tell the police that you. The police is supposed to be our friend. We are women, we should be free to wear whatever we want to wear without being arrested. It is not a crime to be a woman. We will not be silent, we are here because of the recent happenings at Utako (Caramelo) and other places. The police is supposed to defend us, not rape us” Umar said.

Also speaking, Aisha Yesufu, an activist, said it is the right of a woman to dress the way she wants. “I have the right to wear a hijab and another has the right for mini and not wear anything. It is our fundamental human rights, you do not a right to label a woman a prostitute because of the way she is dressed. The Nigerian police, you are all out here with your guns, why are you not on Abuja-Kaduna road?” Yesufu said.