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
By Okey Maduforo Awka
Anambra Police Command has debunked the allegation that it’s officers and men had hand in the mysterious death of one Mr Paul Onwualu at Npkor in Idemili North local government area.
The Police which confirmed the arrest of the suspect however explained that preliminary investigations has so far shown that there complications in the health status of the deceased leading to his demise .
SP Tochukwu Ikenga ,who is the Public Relations Officer of the Command stated in a release that ;
“The Anambra State Police Command wishes to inform the public that it has commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate death of the late Mr Paul Onwualu in Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State”
“Preliminary information available to the Command reveals that the officers allegedly involved in the arrest before the sudden complication of the deceased’s health, which later led to his death, have been identified, but are not operatives attached to the Anambra State Police Command”
“The Command assures Ndi Anambra and members of the public that the matter is being handled with the seriousness it deserves to ascertain the facts surrounding the unfortunate incident”
“The Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu fwc mnips PhD, urges residents to remain calm and allow the ongoing investigation to run its course, while reaffirming the Command’s commitment to transparency, professionalism, and the protection of lives and property.” he said.
Neighbours reported that the event allegedly occurred around 3pm on Sunday, noting that the late Miss Amanda had been a victim of constant and ruthless maltreatment at the hands of her stepmother.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Children, Gender Affairs and Social Development, Enugu State, Mrs. Ngozi Enih, has expressed the state government’s anger over the incident, saying it would not relent until justice is done.
“It is on record that the Governor Peter Mbah Administration has zero tolerance for any form of child abuse, let alone child homicide. So, we swung into action on learning about this tragedy to ensure that the suspect was arrested.
“But it doesn’t end there. We will be pressing for thorough and expedited investigation to ensure that justice is not just done, but done really fast.
“Nobody should take another’s life and certainly not the life of any child in Enugu State. We condemn it in totality,” she stated.
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
As suspected fake native doctors continue to face the long arm of the law in Anambra State, the government has now commenced a crackdown on alleged fake pastors who preach salvation without the gospel.
Already, scores of suspected fake pastors are reportedly in custody, with some said to have confessed to deceiving unsuspecting members of the public.
Governor Charles Soludo disclosed this during this year’s All Knights Day celebration held at St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral.
In a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Christian Aburime, the governor said:
“The Governor also revealed an ongoing crackdown on fake pastors who exploit the vulnerable by preaching a gospel of ‘salvation without the cross,’ confirming that several are already in custody and confessing.”
He emphasized that a “New Anambra” is emerging and must be rid of deception and criminality, while reinforcing the church’s teaching that hard work remains the pathway to success.
The statement further read:
“In a firm demonstration of fiscal discipline, Governor Soludo granted a request from the Knights to support their charity visits to orphanages but declined a request for public funds to sew uniforms, stating he would not deploy state resources for private institutional regalia.”
The governor also urged the Knights to remain “the light of the world and the salt of the earth” by living according to principles rather than titles.
The event featured a Pontifical Mass celebrated by the Catholic Bishop of Awka, Paulinus Ezeokafor, while the homily was delivered by the Diocesan Secretary, Rev. Fr. Evaristus Iheanacho.
In his sermon, Iheanacho reflected on the work of the Holy Spirit, describing knighthood as a process of “sober reflection, stock-taking, and reckoning” guided by strict tenets and discipline.
He reminded the Knights that true love for Christ is demonstrated through obedience to His commandments, discipline, humility, and courage.
The cleric also cautioned against elitist isolation, urging the Knights to remain connected with the people and preserve their human face and prophetic voice within the community.
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
The Violent Crime Response Unit of the Anambra State Police Command has uncovered and destroyed an armoury belonging to suspected separatist gunmen at Owerre-Ezukala in Orumba South Local Government Area.
The operation, led by Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Orebe Chidubem Matthew, followed intelligence obtained from a member of the gang currently in police custody.
In a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the police disclosed that the camp had previously been dislodged by a Joint Task Force on security operations. However, some members of the gang who escaped during the earlier raid reportedly regrouped and attempted to resume operations.
According to the statement, items recovered from the armoury include one General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG) with about 2,000 rounds of live chain ammunition, two fabricated rocket launchers with 25 propellers, 10 locally-made Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), one locally-made Beretta pistol, two pump-action guns, three hand grenades, 10 rounds of K2 live ammunition, one gas cylinder, and one black Ecolac box.
“Recall that the camp was earlier destroyed by a Joint Security Team. Before the confession by the suspect in custody, intelligence had been received over time on how some escaped gang members were attempting to regroup. However, operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit resisted and dismantled the camp following a gun duel with the unrepentant members,” the statement read.
The police further stated that some of the armed suspects fled the scene with varying degrees of bullet injuries sustained during the exchange of gunfire.
Further investigations revealed that the suspect in custody confessed to involvement in several violent attacks across Anambra State, including attacks on police facilities, the killing of security personnel comprising police, military, and civil defence officers, attacks on government facilities, and the murder of security operatives on stop-and-search duties on various roads in the state.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, noted that with the establishment of the Violent Crime Response Unit, operatives of the command are now better positioned and more motivated to sustain offensive operations against criminal elements threatening the peace and security of the state.
The Enugu State House of Assembly has ordered the immediate suspension of the salary of Dr. Kate Okolo, a staff member of the Enugu State College of Education, over her alleged involvement in a controversial land deal.
The directive was issued on Tuesday in Enugu by the Chairman of the House Special Committee on Land Conflicts, Mr. Okey Mbah, as part of an ongoing investigation into a decade-long land fraud.
Mbah emphasized that the suspension is not a witch-hunt but a clear signal that the era of impunity in land administration in the state is over.
The committee, currently probing petitions from staff of the institution and members of the public, accused key figures in the Women in College of Education Organisation (WICE) of engaging in land racketeering and fraudulent sales.
According to petitioners, the scheme—introduced between 2009 and 2011 under the leadership of the late Mrs. Ugoma Ndubisi and Dr. Okolo—encouraged individuals to market plots of land known as “WICE Land” to colleagues, friends, and family members.
One victim, who pleaded anonymity, told lawmakers they invested in the scheme because it was presented as a credible internal arrangement.
“We paid in full and have receipts, but for over 13 years, we have not been allocated any land,” the petitioner said.
Testimonies further revealed that the situation worsened following the death of Mrs. Ndubisi, with allegations that Dr. Okolo altered the original terms of the transactions.
“She changed the name from Ukano to Ukano Bold, increased the prices, reduced plot sizes, and claimed that many of us did not pay.
“We are now being asked to pay again for land we already purchased.
“All we want is either our land or our money back,” another petitioner stated.
In response, Mbah assured the petitioners that the Assembly remains committed to ensuring justice.
“We have listened to your grievances, and this committee will see this matter through to a logical conclusion.
“No one found culpable will be shielded,” he said.
-
News3 days ago“Go and Verify”: How Sunday Umeha Is Redefining Representation in Ezeagu/Udi
-
News4 days ago
Chief Sir Paul Chukwuma Lays His Beloved Sister to Rest
-
Politics4 days agoAnambra Communities Boil As Group Carpets Traditional Rulers Over Zoning
-
News4 days ago2027: Anambra ADC Intact Despite Obi, Kwankwaso Departure – Guber Candidate
-
Tech3 days agoHow Chatgpt Detector Tools Are Changing Content Verification
-
Politics1 day agoAPC House of Reps Screening: Onwuegbu Clears Exercise Ahead Of Primaries
-
Crime2 days ago
Fake Pastors Arrested in Anambra as Soludo Begins Crackdown
-
Education2 days agoEnugu: CIC Student Drowns While Trying To Retrieve Bucket From Water Reservoir