₦airaland Forum

Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage includes practices that continue despite modern laws, human rights campaigns, and global scrutiny. The recent horrifying incident in Ozoro, Delta State, during the Alue-Do Festival (locally called the Ozoro Festival) has thrust one such tradition into the spotlight. On March 19, 2026, videos went viral showing mobs of young men chasing women through the streets in broad daylight, stripping them naked, molesting, and allegedly raping them under the guise of “tradition.” Police arrested the community head and several suspects, while the Delta State government condemned the violence as barbaric. Community leaders claim the festival is a triennial fertility rite where men playfully drag childless married women and pour sand on them to invoke blessings. Yet it has repeatedly degenerated into public sexual assault, with women warned to stay indoors or face “the juju.” This tragedy exposes how some “cultures” normalize abuse against women.1. Ozoro (Alue-Do) Festival
This Delta State event, meant to promote fertility, has become infamous for enabling daylight harassment and rape. Though defenders insist it was never meant for violence, the 2026 attacks prove how easily tradition masks crime. It remains practiced in parts of Ozoro despite arrests and bans.
2. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
Still widespread in South-East and South-West Nigeria despite a 2015 federal ban, FGM involves cutting or removing parts of a girl’s Instruments, often with crude tools. Communities believe it curbs promiscuity, ensures “purity,” and aids marriage prospects. Health risks include infections, infertility, and childbirth complications, yet prevalence exceeds 70% in states like Ebonyi and Osun. Rural circumcisers continue the rite secretly, passing trauma across generations.

3. Magun (The Infidelity Charm)
Among the Yoruba, husbands secretly apply this juju to wives. If she cheats, the lover allegedly gets “stuck” during sex, suffers convulsions, or dies unless the husband provides an antidote. Though illegal and dangerous, many men still use it in Lagos and Ogun to “control” spouses, blending superstition with jealousy in modern marriages.