A
female NYSC member has narrated how suspected militants stormed into
their lodge in Rivers state before robbing and r*ping them.
*Photo used for illustrative purpose*
Words could not describe the sorrow in the hearts of some National
Youth Service Corps members who were allegedly robbeda and r*ped last
Wednesday in Asarama Community, Andoni Local Government Area, Rivers
State by suspected militants.
The victims narrated that they were in their lodge in an isolated
part of the community when gunmen stormed into their rooms to rob and
r*pe them.
The operation which started at midnight lasted for more than two
hours, with two female corps members r*ped, and phones, food stuff,
clothes, shoes, money among others carted away.
One of the victims who narrated the horrifying experience said the
gunmen numbering seven wore face caps except for the ring leader, who
was hooded. She said the militants attributed their actions to the
failure of the government to pay them their dues.
“The gunmen broke the door with their legs. No burglary proof
or protector. We were about seven in the lodge. We had five serving
Corps members, one ex-corps member and one other person. They entered my
room and I was told to knock on other rooms. They came here with guns
and cutlasses. They were about seven in number. They asked all of us out
of our rooms and they led all of us into an empty room. Then later they
came to ask if we had any male Corps member because the lodge is like a
wing.
“It was the first wing they robbed in the first hour of the
operation. In that first wing, we had just one male Corps member; so
they took him to the other room and beat him with a cutlass. They asked
him to pull his trousers.
‘’We, the girls were packed in an empty room and they told us
to stand up one after the other and they led us to our rooms. Some
phones were collected and luckily for some of us, our phones were not
with us because we were charging it. I had my phone with me but
immediately they came, I hid my phone because they did not come with a
torch. It was our torch they were collecting. There has not been light
in our lodge since we started serving. We have been using a generator
set and we don’t put it on overnight. So there was no light and they
didn’t come with any source of light.
“They asked me to put on my torch. They asked us how much we
had as they led us to our rooms. As they were doing that, they were
beating, slapping and hitting us. They searched the rooms and asked us
to bring the money. So I think because I was fidgeting, I told them the
amount I didn’t have. The one I had I gave them and they were asking for
the remaining one. I was still checking when one of them came in to
scatter all my stuff. And I was trying to tell him that was just all I
had. They asked me to kneel down and went into other people’s room to do
the same thing.
“When he came back into my room, he locked the door and asked
me to look for the money, else he would kill me. I told them that I
didn’t have any money apart from the one I already gave them. Then he
(gunmen) asked me to pull my dress, and I was actually raped that night.
I struggled but he overpowered me. He was beating and slapping me. The
marks are still on my body. He was the one who had the gun with him and
he had already locked the door on us. One other female Corps member was
raped in our room too.
"After that, he told me to lie faced down on my bed, then also
took some things from my room and left. He told me to lock the door when
he left and warned that I shouldn’t open the door for any other person
that when he wants to come, he would knock.
"Then I was hearing footsteps; I think they were carrying the
food stuff that they saw in other rooms. They went to the other wing
where they met two men and a lady and they collected their phones,
foods stuff, clothes, shoes, and some plates too. All these lasted for
more than two hours. They sounded local and they were saying 'since the government did not pay us; no vex o. All these things, na hunger cause am.'" she said.
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