Corpers Robbed And Raped In Rivers State By Suspected Militants

How gunmen robbed, raped us – Corps members
   Temitayo Ayetoto,
It was a sorrowful nightfall for two members of
the National Youth Service Corps last
Wednesday in Asarama Community, Andoni
Local Government Area, Rivers State, after they
were robbed and raped by suspected militants.
The victims were said to be in bed at their
unsecured lodge in an isolated part of the
community when the gunmen broke into their
rooms to rob and rape them.
The operation which started at midnight lasted
for more than two hours, with two female corps
members raped, and phones, food stuff, clothes,
shoes, money among others carted away.
One of the victims who didn’t want her name in
print in a telephone conversation with The Nation
explained that the gunmen numbering seven
wore face caps except for the ring leader, who
was hooded.
She said the gunmen hinged their actions on 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. If
government no pay us, then if we get gun, we go
find our way.’’
Expatiating further, she said: “There is no police
station in that area. And our lodge is bushy, so
even if we called for help, no one would have
heard us. If you are coming into the community,
our lodge is the first house. It was my pastor
who took us to a hospital. The hospital is in
another community entirely, there is no health
facility where our quarters is located.
“The local inspector, local government chairman
and some other people visited us in the hospital
and took care of our hospital bill. We were
adequately treated and given drugs to prevent
pregnancy or infection. They told us to leave the
place.
“So, the place is under lock now. I feel very bad.
It’s very heartbreaking and traumatising but I
know God has just been helping me. And with
the people around me, I’ve been so encouraged.
I know God knows about everything that
happened and I know those that did it will not go
unpunished.”
She condemned the state of insecurity especially
in hinterland communities like Asarama saying:
“There was a time they raised an issue that
everybody will be left in his or her own
geopolitical zones, so even if they wouldn’t want
to scrap it, we should be posted within our
geopolitical zones. If I was in my own place,
whatever they were saying, I could pick up some
little things from it when they were speaking the
language and that could even be used to trace
them. But in a place like that, by 5 or 6pm, you
have to be in your own house and if something
happens, you don’t know how to communicate.
Even if someone is talking about killing you, you
cannot understand to save yourself. If it will not
be scrapped, they should maintain us in our own
geopolitical zones and they should ensure
security measures because we did not say we
wanted to serve. They made it compulsory for
us, so once we have agreed that we want to
serve our country, they should make sure
security measures are high. There is no security
where we are and I think that was what gave the
gunmen confidence because they know there is
nowhere we can run to for help.”
Meanwhile, other corps members have become
apprehensive since the incident, especially the
females.
According to one of the corps member serving in
the same community, no measures have been
instilled to forestall further attacks in the area.
She said it took the intervention of the Zonal
Inspector to approve their relocation to safer
areas as the Local Inspector insisted they stay
or face harsh consequences.
According to her: “The proximity of our lodge to
the scene coupled with no guaranteed security
had set panic in us, we don’t know these guys
neither do we know what line of action they
would take next, we just thought it’s better to be
proactive and not just take a harmful risk. So, we
all decided to vacate the lodge and not to
return.’’