•Onu and scene of the incident
Cyrus Onu, a lawyer for the female National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Jennifer Elobor, who was assaulted by local security agents in Anambra State, has said that the perpetrators had threatened to rape and kill her for speaking out during the incident.
“They [security agents] were banging the door, and Jennifer was trying to open the door, and they just kicked the door, and it almost hit their 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 on Channels Television today.
“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 also claimed that the Anambra security agents threatened to kill her colleagues for trying to defend her.
In a video that went viral, the operatives armed with guns stormed the Corps members’ apartment in the Oba community of Anambra State.
The agents who were members of the Operation ‘Udo Ga-Achi,’ also known as the Agunechemba Vigilante Group, were seen beating Elobor and tearing her clothes.
The State government, through the Special Adviser to Governor Soludo on Community Security, Ken Emeakayi, while condemning the assault on the Corps member, said on yesterday that those involved had been arrested.
Emeakayi also said that the operatives involved had been suspended, and their final evaluation was in process.
“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 had said.
But the lawyer said the Anambra governor’s aide’s comment on the incident was 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.”
