•Assaulted female birthday celebrant, Thonia Okoye
Two young women have narrated what could be summed up as a life-scarring ordeal after allegedly being assaulted by a popular Port Harcourt-based realtor, Maduba Okechi Christian, and his security details at a nightclub in the Rivers State capital.
It was learnt that what was meant to be a night of carefree fun turned into a horror scene when they were allegedly beaten to a pulp, stripped naked, and one was left bleeding profusely from the head after the said Maduba reportedly smashed a bottle on her head, reports Saturday PUNCH.
The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Thursday at Blacbox nightclub, has generated outrage on social media after the ladies shared videos narrating their ordeal.
‘He assaulted us for refusing love advances’
They accused Maduba, the Chief Executive Officer of Ceemore Group of Companies, a real estate firm, and a Mobile Police officer attached to him, of assaulting them after one of them allegedly declined the realtor’s advances.
The ladies lamented that the attack left them with broken heads, broken teeth, and other bodily injuries.
It was gathered that one of the ladies, Thonia Okoye, had made reservations at the club after paying the sum of N200,000 to celebrate her birthday with friends.
It was further gathered that the incident was reported at the Olu Obasanjo Divisional Police Station in Port Harcourt.
Narrating her ordeal in a video posted on TikTok, Okoye said the suspect had approached them at their reserved table and asked if he could join them, but they refused.
She added that Maduba flared up when he noticed one of the ladies making a video while dancing and ordered her to stop.
Dragged, stripped naked
Okoye accused Maduba of dragging her down the stairs, where she was stripped naked and beaten to a stupor.
“All of a sudden, this certain man called Ceemore Maduba came to sit at our reserved seat, and my friend was making a video. He hit my friend’s phone, saying she was not meant to make a video, and he started threatening us.
“This man and his friends started breaking bottles. They injured my friend; they broke her head, and she was bleeding profusely.
“They broke the teeth of my other friend. They pushed me downstairs, stripped me naked, and beat me mercilessly as if I had stolen something, all because this man came with a Mopol and bodyguards. This is not the first time he would be doing this. We’ve had a lot of people come out to speak against him, that this is the same thing he has done to them at that same Blacbox,” Okoye said.
He smashed a bottle on my head
Also narrating her ordeal in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, Juliet Obasi said she had travelled from Owerri, Imo State, to Port Harcourt to celebrate with her friend alongside five other ladies.
She alleged that the realtor smashed a bottle on her head during the altercation and even attempted to stab her.
According to her, she was left bleeding profusely and had to be rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment.
Club management’s failure to act
She further accused the nightclub’s management and security personnel of complacency, claiming that they stood by and failed to intervene as the attack unfolded.
Obasi said the altercation escalated after the man accused one of her friends of recording him, which she denied, insisting she was only making a selfie video. Despite their complaints to the club’s management and security, nothing was done.
“I kept asking the waitress to call the manager to intervene because this was a reserved table, but shockingly, the waitress was more interested in greeting him respectfully. That was when I realised he must be an important person at the club.
“He took a bottle from our table and smashed it on my head. I didn’t even know I was bleeding until people started shouting, ‘You’re bleeding!’ I had to touch my head to confirm. The worst part is that the club’s security and management did nothing,” she alleged.
Another lost tooth
According to Obasi, as she was being rushed out, the man also attacked another girl in their group, breaking her tooth, while the celebrant was physically assaulted, stripped, and beaten by the man and his friends.
“The only mistake we made was going to that club. The only reason we reserved a table was because we knew how the club usually is. If we hadn’t reserved a table, they would have tagged us as prostitutes.
“We paid for our drinks and stayed in our space. This man saw that there were no guys with us, and that’s why he did what he did. Now they are saying he is a big man and nothing will happen to him.
“I’m traumatised. Going out as a lady in this country feels like a crime. I have lost money, jewellery, and even my friend’s clothes were torn. I didn’t know something like this could happen to me,” she said, adding that they would demand CCTV footage from the club as part of efforts to seek justice.
Outrage
Meanwhile, Nigerians on social media have expressed outrage over the incident, calling for the arrest and prosecution of the suspect.
A Facebook user, Dede Oputamuno Gilbert, said, “This is really sad, and I expect the management of Blackbox to do something about this and take it up. Lessons have to be learnt. Not every girl you see in the club is an OS (a term used for prostitutes). Some young girls have so much money they have made from their legitimate businesses, and they also ball in the club. It is not only insulting but demeaning to see every lady as a dependant, and this should change.”
Another user, Gift Douglas, said, “The CEO of Ceemore should be brought to book immediately. He is bragging that they can’t do him anything. What a world. He thinks every girl is a prostitute like him.”
“Sisters, don’t take this matter for granted. Justice must prevail. Don’t be afraid; report to the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command. I believe he will not take this matter for granted,” Oluchi Pamela said.
Vida Ogbonna said, “This is so uncalled for. Wickedness of the highest order! So, young girls cannot have fun with their own money without harassment from the opposite sex? The man should pay for damages and should face the law.”
Rivers police spokesperson silent
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, did not respond to phone calls and messages as of the time of filing this report.
But in a post on X, the police command disclosed that both the club manager and the suspect had been invited for questioning.
“Regarding the lady that was assaulted in the club, the DPO (Divisional Police Officer) within that jurisdiction has expedited action by inviting the hotel manager and the alleged suspect to his office for immediate investigation. I would also like to use this medium to invite the victims involved,” the post read.
Reacting in a video posted on TikTok, the owner of the club, Greatcool Ejekwu, popularly known as “Datfairboy,” condemned the incident, describing it as unfortunate and unacceptable.
“The incident at Blackbox is a very sad and pathetic one. No human being has the right to inflict physical injury on anybody, especially when nobody posed any threat. I have already filed a petition with the security agencies to report the incident,” he said.
Meanwhile, efforts to reach the owner of the club were unsuccessful, as calls made to the number displayed on the Instagram account were not answered.
Also, attempts to get the reaction of the accused realtor were unsuccessful, as messages sent to his verified Facebook account were not replied to as of the time of filing this report. Attempts to reach him through other known contacts also proved abortive.
