A call has gone to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Kpodum Idris to wade into the raging controversy surrounding the genuineness, the circumstances and the individuals that led to the leakage of an alleged lesbian sex video of the winner of Miss Anambra 2015, Miss Chidinma Okeke.

National Coordinator of Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) said the nation’s policing institution must not stand by and allow blackmailers have a field day just as the rights group asked for measures to safeguard the life of the embattled beauty queen.

HURIWA has also dismissed as hasty and totally unacceptable, the decision of the organisers of the Miss Anambra Beauty pageant to hurriedly announce the dethronement of Miss Okeke as the reigning Miss Anambra beauty queen even before the law enforcement authorities could conclusively verify the authenticity or otherwise of the so-called lesbianism sex video and the motive for the leakage.

The rights group affirmed that the jungle justice meted out on this young Nigerian girl on the basis of an alleged sex video that has not been forensically investigated and conclusively verified and the entire gamut of the ulterior motivation for the leakage uncovered, is completely antithetical to the principle of rule of law as enshrined in section 36(5) of the Nigerian Constitution which states, “Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty; Provided that nothing in this section shall invalidate any law by reason only that the law imposes upon any such person the burden of proving particular facts.”

Besides, the rights group expressed trepidation at the reported decision of Miss Okeke to stay away from a pre-planned media briefing for fear of her life since she alleged a plot to eliminate her if she disclosed the underlying facts behind the entire controversial sex tape.

The group has called on Governor Willie Obiano as the Chief Security Officer of Anambra State to also take measures to prevent any attempt at silencing the embattled beauty queen.

HURIWA recalled that the video which was released in two batches has the 2015 winner of the pageant in a video that has gone viral on the cyber space, with the queen involving in lesbian act with another lady who has so far not been identified.

Besides, a statement signed by the Chairman, Chief Executive of Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS), organisers of the pageant, Nze Uche Nworah, disowned the queen for her action in the video, saying that the pageant was set up to maintain high moral standard and to empower young ladies from the state.

“We use this medium to urge the Inspector General of Police to personally step into this matter of Miss Anambra 2015 sex video scandal by first and foremost deploying the best forensic investigators to conduct transparent, open and an acceptable investigation with a view to unraveling the person and circumstances behind the leakage of the sex tape and the reported threats to the life of Miss Anambra 2015 winner, Miss Chidinma Okeke,” HURIWA said.

•Photo shows embattled Miss Anambra 2015, Chidinma Okeke.

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