Female National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Jennifer Elobor, was assaulted by local security operatives in Anambra State, with her lawyer, Cyrus Onu, revealing that the attackers threatened to rape and kill her for speaking out during the ordeal.
Gatekeepers News reports that the security agents who, according to Onu, were masked and armed, stormed the corps members’ residence, beating and making derogatory comments against Elobor.
“The security agents were banging on the door and Jennifer was trying to open the door, and they just kicked the door, and it almost hit her face.
“Most of them were masked in mufti with guns, so you can imagine how scared the kids [corps members] were.
“They [security agents] didn’t give any identification. They just said, ‘Come down, come down. You’re all thieves! You’re all ‘Yahoo’ people!’
“When they tried to drag them downstairs, Jennifer was insisting that if they must take them anywhere, they should allow them [corps members] to call their LGI [Local Government Inspector] because the corps members did not know who the operatives were,” the lawyer said.
“That was when they started pouncing on her. They made derogatory comments, asking her who gave her the right as a lady to speak to them anyhow. They started beating her.
“She asked them to allow her to change into something appropriate, and they said, ‘That thing you’re trying to cover, we’ll see it today. We’ll beat you up, we’ll rape you, kill you, and dump you, and nobody can say anything,” Onu added.
The lawyer alleged that the operatives threatened to kill Elobor’s colleagues who attempted to defend her, and that they only released the corps members after the local inspector intervened.
The Anambra State Government has condemned the attack, with Governor Soludo’s Special Adviser on Community Security, Ken Emeakayi, announcing that the perpetrators had been arrested and suspended pending further investigation.
However, Elobor’s lawyer said: “They are suspended because when a case has been established against someone, you arrest the person, then hand him over to the police.
“Now, since they were not readily prepared for persecution, which will be carried out by the police, they are now undergoing other disciplinary measures within our system, pending the final evaluation of the matter, whether they are going to court or not going to court as it relates to the victim.”
He described Emeakayi’s remarks on the incident as unacceptable, stating that the government was not prepared to prosecute the perpetrators.
“Ken was alleging that the lady was not forthcoming, and that was why they couldn’t go on with the investigation. That’s not true. In fact, when they got to the secretariat, those people were still firing guns in the air to intimidate them.
“It was one of the local inspectors who came from the NYSC that told them to allow them [corps members] to go; that was how they let them go.
“If not for the fact that it [the incident] came to the public. All of those things they are saying are not true. They are not prepared to prosecute; they are not going to prosecute.
The lawyer has written a petition to the Anambra State Government demanding the prosecution of the perpetrators and compensatory damages for his clients.
“And, of course, that is not the only redress our clients are seeking. There must be consequences for bad behaviour, and they [the perpetrators] will pay damages. My clients are seeking compensatory damages, and they will have to pay.
“We’ve since written a petition to the government of Anambra State demanding that those persons be prosecuted, and we will follow up to also ensure compensatory damages.”
