Cyrus Onu, counsel to Jennifer Elobor, the female National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, member assaulted by local security operatives in Anambra State, has revealed that the attackers threatened to rape and kill her for daring to speak out during the ordeal.
The lawyer stated this on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief yesterday.
“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 further alleged that the Anambra security operatives threatened to kill Jennifer Elobor’s colleagues who attempted to defend her.
The Anambra State Government, through Governor Soludo’s Special Adviser on Community Security, Ken Emeakayi, condemned the attack on the corps member on Tuesday and announced that the perpetrators had been arrested.
Emeakayi added that the operatives had been suspended pending the outcome of their final review.
“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 ..said.
However, the lawyer described the Anambra governor’s aide’s remarks on the incident as unacceptable.
The victims’ lawyer said, “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.
“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.”
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