The Bayelsa State Police Command has paraded three of the four women accused of assaulting Nancy Wilfred in a viral video that sparked outrage across the state.

In the video, Nancy was assaulted, beaten, stepped upon and stripped naked by her assailants.

The suspects, identified as Kadi Daniel, Miracle, and Becky — all students of the Federal University, Otuoke — were presented at the state police headquarters in Yenagoa on Thursday.

The fourth suspect, identified as Favour, remains at large.

Narrating the events, Daniel, 20, admitted that she and her friends attacked Nancy under the influence of alcohol.

Blessing, who also expressed remorse, said peer pressure and anger contributed to her actions.

She said, “After everything, I went to the kitchen and I was crying. Favour was like ‘na you beat person, na you dey go cry’ – that gingering power. I was so weak because the alcohol was now clear from my eyes.

“With my normal eyes, I won’t do what I have done. I have been avoiding this, that’s why I have been leaving the house. I did it because I was high and the peer pressure – out of anger.”

Blessing told journalists that they lured Nancy to their apartment, assaulted her, stripped her naked, and humiliated her, while one of them recorded the attack and intentionally shared the footage on social media.

She explained that the assault was triggered by an accusation that Nancy had allegedly spread false claims that she was using charms to attract men.

Blessing added that Miracle had lured Nancy to the house under the pretext that her missing clothes had been found, but upon arrival, Nancy denied ownership.

She said, “When we went to the house, Becky and Nancy were having issues. Already, we had issues, but I kept them to myself. I didn’t want anything that would result in to fight.

“That day, due to the alcohol influence, Favour was now gingering me like ‘you no go do am? She don do you’, those kind of things.

“I then stood up. I went to Nancy and said ‘who you say make dem carry do house help for this house because I dey help una wash clothes and the rest?’

“She could not say anything. That time, Becky had started beating her already, even before the video started.”

Following public outrage, the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, CP Francis Idu, ordered a manhunt for the perpetrators.

Speaking with journalists, Idu commended Governor Douye Diri, his wife, gender rights activists, the NBA, FIDA, and community-based organisations for supporting efforts to make Bayelsa crime-free.

He confirmed that investigations were underway and vowed that justice would be served.

He said, “This is a case of conspiracy to murder, abduction, cyberbullying and others, which we will not take lightly. There are four girls, and we have three arrested; we are on the trail of the fourth person.

“We are working to ensure that at the end of this investigation into these unwholesome acts, we will present a complete and detailed result and allow the judiciary to take over.”

PUNCH Online reports that incidents of cyberbullying and gender-based violence have been on the rise in Nigeria, with several cases going viral on social media and prompting public outrage.

Rights activists and legal experts have repeatedly called for stronger enforcement of existing laws such as the Cybercrimes Act and the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act to deter perpetrators.

The Bayelsa case has renewed calls for improved policing, mental health awareness, and the need for social media accountability to prevent such humiliating assaults from being glorified online. (The PUNCH)

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