Crime
Probe begins as Lagos lady narrates robbery, attempted rape in Tanzanian hotel
The Zanzibar Commission for Tourism, Tanzania, has commenced investigation into allegations of robbery and attempted rape made by a Nigerian tourist, Zainab Oladehinde.
This was after Nigerians expressed outrage at the incident, which trended on Twitter and affected the reviews of the Warere Beach Hotel, Nungwi, Zanzibar, where the event occured.
Oladehinde had, in a series of tweets on Saturday, said she boarded a plane from Lagos to Tanzania and proceeded to lodge in the hotel to celebrate her 23rd birthday.
The victim said she was to be lodged in the hotel for six days, but a “traumatic experience” in the facility made her undergo therapy for a year.
She stated, “Around 12am, a few friends and family called to wish me a happy birthday and then I went back to my room to sleep. A few hours into my sleep, I started to feel a strange hand touching my breasts.
“Now, this was me sleeping naked on my bed in my hotel room with my doors locked. So, this was definitely a dream. I told myself and went back to sleep. Some few minutes afterwards, I started to feel my hands stroking someone’s pen*s.
“At this moment, I opened my eyes to confirm if it was actually a dream or I was in real danger. Lo and behold, it wasn’t a dream. There was a naked man lying on my bed and touching me at 2am in my hotel room!
“He started calling me baby and then I became scared because the room was dark as I had switched off the lights before I went to bed. Now, I was extremely scared.”
In that moment, Oladehinde said she asked for the man’s identity, adding that he ignored and gagged her mouth to prevent her from calling for help.
She said dreadful thoughts of being raped and killed, among others, occupied her mind, as she never knew how the man entered her room, which was locked.
According to her, the yet-to-be-identified man was about to rape her when she shouted that she had HIV, which made him to stop.
“So, I continued begging and telling him I’d allow him have sex with me but he’d need to get a condom so as not to get HIV. I kept on saying HIV whilst crying profusely at this point. As I struggled to not let him strangle me, he left the room and told me he’d be back with a condom.
“Immediately he left, I switched on the light, tried to call the hotel reception but there was no intercom or phone lines to reach the hotel reception. I couldn’t stay back in the room and wait for the rapist to come back.
“I decided it was very unsafe for me to remain in the room. If I’d die, I’d rather die trying to escape rather than let the man come back to attack me a second time. I quickly put some clothes on and left my room barefooted so as not to make noise when I get out.
“On getting outside the room, I wanted to make my way to the reception, but then I saw two security men standing outside by the pool side having a conversation. I wanted to meet them to tell them I had just been attacked by a stranger in my room.
“But I thought to myself, what if this was the person who actually attacked me? Then I became extremely scared because I’d have to find a way to get to the reception without those men seeing me,” she added.
Oladehinde said she crawled to avoid being noticed and when she got to the rooms at the reception, she knocked on the doors but no one answered.
She said, “I was crying profusely at this point because I thought I wouldn’t survive this night.
“Almost immediately, I remembered the Russian couple I had spent some time with the day before and I could go to their room to seek refuge. I started crawling on my chest till I got to their room.
“Fortunately for me, the room was opened and I ran inside. They woke up almost immediately and I told the guy, Alex, how I was strangled and almost got raped in my room.
“He advised that I stay in his room till we sort out the issue by daybreak. I called my friend to tell him I was in another room where I felt safe and he told me he had called the hotel owner. This was around 4am in the morning.”
Around 6am, the victim said she left Alex’s room and called her taxi driver, one Suley, to convey her to the nearest police station.
While awaiting the driver’s arrival, Oladehinde noted that she realised her phone battery would soon go flat when she summoned the courage to go into her room to pick up her charger.
Upon entering the room, she, however, discovered that she had been robbed of $1,100, adding that it took two hours before the hotel manager, one Mussa, attended to her.
She said, “Mussa claimed to have received a phone call around 4am by the hotel’s owner to check for me in my room after my friend called them. He said he didn’t find me in the room, so he went back to bed.
“I told Mussa to call out all the security personnel that were on duty the night before so we’d get the hang of who the culprit was. They all came out. I couldn’t recognize any of them, but I could smell the man that was in my room that midnight.
“The taxi driver arrived and we all left for the police station. When we got to the police station, I was asked to write my statement, which I did. The policemen advised I go to the hospital to do a check-up if I was raped or not.
“They were all speaking Swahili and were asking me questions instead of interrogating the suspects. When I decided to take a picture of the police station and the statement I had written, the policemen started threatening me to delete the pictures.
“I didn’t delete my pictures and videos. Instead, I took more because this was the only weapon I had against them. I started to Google Nigerian embassies in Tanzania. I called all of them, but no one answered me.”
Oladehinde said when the nurse at a hospital she visited confirmed that there was no penetration, the policemen said they had no reason to press charges on sexual assault, adding that the only issue was the stolen money.
“The policemen at the Nungwi police station in Zanzibar kept on bullying and harassing me. They told me to leave the police station that I wasn’t raped. I was so frustrated, sad and scared. How could the police do this to me? How could the hotel do this to me? The owner and manager said I lied about my experience,” she said.
In a short video clip posted alongside the tweets, Alex was heard confirming that Oladehinde came to seek solace in his room on April 16, 2021, when the incident happened.
A statement by the Executive Secretary, Zanzibar Commission for Tourism, Hafsa Mbamba, condemned the incident, saying an investigation had commenced.
The statement read in part, “The Zanzibar Commission for Tourism is shocked and disappointed to learn of this incident and take these allegations very seriously. An immediate investigation has commenced and we will report on its findings. We condemn any harm or threat to our visitors to the peaceful islands of Zanzibar.”
PUNCH
According to a statement on Friday, the arrested officers are: “AP/No. 207454, ASP Elomore Sodayo; AP/No. 332012, Inspector Adefila Adewale; AP/No. 332449, Inspector Olorunfemi Opeyemi; and AP/No. 332369, Inspector Odusola Peter.”
Speaking at the command headquarters in Akure on Friday, the state Commissioner of Police, Felix Ohagwu, said the police had zero tolerance for indiscipline and unprofessional conduct.
He added that a comprehensive investigation had been ordered to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and determine the level of culpability of each officer involved.
He added that officers were expected to conduct themselves with the utmost professionalism, respect human dignity and comply strictly with the Force’s Code of Conduct and Standard Operating Procedures.
“The Nigeria Police Force is a disciplined and professional institution that does not condone any form of misconduct, incivility, or actions capable of undermining public confidence, promoting ethnic division, or bringing the Force into disrepute,” the commissioner said.
He assured the public that the investigation would be conducted to determine the facts of the case, adding that any officer found culpable would face appropriate disciplinary action.
This was said to be part of renewed efforts to tackle insecurity.
Disu gave the directive on Friday during a stakeholders’ meeting at the Government House in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
According to the IG, the order followed President Bola Tinubu’s directive that the persistent insecurity in Benue State must be brought to an end.
He stressed that only authorised security personnel were legally permitted to bear firearms, warning that the era of passive policing was over.
“You cannot move around freely carrying arms as if there is no law and order in this country. It will not be tolerated,” he said.
Disu disclosed that police officers had been empowered under Force Order 237 to respond decisively to armed threats without waiting for directives from superior officers.
“We are tired of losing our men. We are tired of police officers, soldiers, and other members of the security agencies dying anyhow.
“They have been instructed to shoot at sight. They have been trained to do what is necessary. But we will not succeed without the cooperation of all of you.”
He called on residents to support security agencies with credible information, stressing that public cooperation remains critical to the fight against armed criminality.
Benue State has witnessed repeated attacks by armed groups in recent months, resulting in the loss of lives, displacement of residents and destruction of property.
The federal government has continued to deploy additional security personnel and adopt tougher measures aimed at restoring peace in the state.
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
Fresh fears have gripped residents of Ifite Awka following an alleged plot by suspected gunmen to establish camps in the area where four Fulani herders were killed two days ago.
Security reports indicate that the attack may have been aimed at scaring away visitors to the bush in an attempt to facilitate the establishment of new camps in the area.
Residents recalled that similar tactics had allegedly been used by criminal elements to take over communities, often with the assistance of local collaborators.
The area shares boundaries with Awka North Local Government Area, where there have been reports of gunmen operating in some communities.
Following the development, youths from Ifite Awka have stormed the Ifite Agu area in a manhunt for the suspected gunmen.
The development comes as Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo, has issued a fresh directive to traditional rulers and President-Generals (PGs) of communities to take charge of the security architecture in their respective areas in conjunction with local security operatives and the mayors of the 21 local government areas.
It was gathered that as early as 5 a.m., some youths in the area had moved into the bushes in search of the suspected gunmen and cattle reportedly missing following the incident.
The youths were accompanied by local hunters who assisted in the search.
Speaking with reporters, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Christian Aburime, confirmed the fresh directive to traditional rulers and President-Generals of communities across the state.
He said, “We have a government that is people-oriented and that is the government of Prof. Charles Soludo, who is a man that loves the people, is at home with the ordinary people and feels their pains.”
Aburime described the incident as unfortunate and urged the police and other relevant security agencies to take immediate action.
He noted that traditional rulers and President-Generals are the first points of contact when it comes to the security of lives and property in their communities, adding that the governor had reiterated his charge to security stakeholders to take control of security in their respective areas.
He, however, said the possibility of sabotage could not be ruled out, but added that it would be premature to draw conclusions before the completion of investigations by the relevant security agencies.
“The issue of sabotage against security in Anambra State cannot be ruled out, and that could just be an attempt to undermine the efforts of the government. But I cannot categorically tell you that it is an act of sabotage. We have to wait for the investigations of the security agencies before drawing conclusions,” he said.
He added that the Agunechemba Security Squad was working to improve security in the state, noting that residents had commended the governor for the improved security situation.
“We have a good security architecture in place, and I can tell you that this could just be an isolated incident. Everything necessary that needs to be done will be done in that regard,” Aburime said.
He stressed that security was the responsibility of everyone, regardless of social status or position.
“It is very simple, and the governor has always said that security is everybody’s business. When it happens, it affects everyone, irrespective of class or position,” he said.
According to him, “The President-Generals and traditional rulers are the first points of security in their communities and should be able to ensure that there is no security breach in their respective localities.”
He urged residents to provide useful intelligence to security agencies, assuring them that their identities would be protected.
“If you see something, say something. These people doing these things are human beings, and they live in the localities. People should be able to know them. They should avail us of intelligence reports, and that will help us fish them out. Your identity will always be protected,” he said.
The Commissioner of Police in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), CP Ahmed Sanusi, has urged residents, particularly youths, to resist attempts by police officers to search their mobile phones during stop-and-search operations.
Sanusi said such searches violate a directive issued by the Inspector-General of Police, stressing that officers are not permitted to randomly search the phones of members of the public.
The commissioner made the remarks during a press conference shared by News Central Television on Tuesday.
He explained that although mobile phones could be used as evidence in criminal investigations, they should only be examined after a suspect has been lawfully arrested and taken to a police station.
According to him, officers are not authorised to stop people on the road and demand access to their phones merely on suspicion that they may be involved in internet fraud or other criminal activities.
Sanusi urged residents confronted by officers demanding to search their phones to seek assistance by contacting the police emergency line or nearby police officers.
He reaffirmed the FCT Police Command’s commitment to enforcing the Inspector-General’s directive, warning that officers found violating the order would face disciplinary action.
He said the command would continue to take action against officers who abuse their authority or engage in extortion under the guise of conducting stop-and-search operations.
The Cross River State Police Command has arrested a 39-year-old man, Udeme Emmanuel Ekpeme, for allegedly impersonating a medical doctor and defrauding a woman of ₦500,000 under the guise of securing employment for her children at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH).
The command’s spokesperson, ASP Sunday Eitokpah, disclosed this in a statement issued to journalists on Tuesday in Calabar.
According to the statement, Ekpeme was arrested by officers attached to the Uwanse Division in Calabar South Local Government Area following a petition by a 45-year-old woman, Mrs Edemawan Samuel.
The complainant alleged that the suspect falsely presented himself as a medical doctor and collected ₦500,000 from her after promising to facilitate employment for her children at UCTH.
Police said preliminary investigations indicated that the suspect allegedly used the false representation to deceive the woman into handing over the money.
Relevant exhibits believed to be connected to the alleged offences were also recovered during the investigation, while the suspect remains in police custody.
The police spokesperson said the suspect is being investigated for alleged impersonation, obtaining money by false pretence and unlawful use of medical equipment.
The Commissioner of Police, Rashid Afegbua, has directed detectives to conduct a thorough investigation to determine the full extent of the suspect’s activities and identify any other possible victims or accomplices.
The command said the suspect would be charged to court upon completion of investigations if sufficient evidence is established.
The police assured members of the public that further updates would be provided as the investigation progresses.
The arrest comes weeks after the Edo State Police Command announced the arrest of a 46-year-old man, Osaze Okungbowa, who was accused of impersonating a medical doctor and allegedly delivering babies and trafficking newborns.
The Edo suspect was arrested following a complaint by a woman, Princess Oke, who reported that the baby she delivered under his care had gone missing, leading to a police investigation.
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