By Emeka Alex Duru
The outrage that has trailed the assault on a female National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Jennifer Edema Elohor and some of her colleagues by operatives of the Anambra State security outfit, codenamed, “Operation Udo-ga-achi”, is not misplaced. It rather reflects public distaste at the crude tactics of the vigilante squad in fighting perceived crimes and anti-social behaviours – a confirmation that no genuine solution is ever attained through tainted measures.
A viral social media video which exposed the incident, showed the moment armed operatives of the state security outfit stormed a corps members’ lodge in Oba, Idemili South Local Government Area of the state and assaulted the female corps member. The incident was said to have occurred in July. The clip which was shared by a non-governmental organisation, the Haven 360 Foundation, captured the moment the armed operatives stormed the corps members’ lodge, accused them of being internet fraudsters despite the NYSC members displaying their identification cards and uniforms. In the process, Elohor was seen begging the security operatives to stop as they continued to hit her. They further took her and some of her colleagues away. That was crudity in worst form.
It is therefore not surprising that Anambra state government, though belatedly, has risen in condemnation of the incident. The Special Adviser to Governor Chukwuma Soludo on Community Security, Ken Emeakayi, whose office oversees the security outfit, was right in describing the incident as unfortunate and unacceptable. Emeakayi said that though the operatives were carrying out their lawful duties, they went overboard, adding that the operatives involved in the assault had been arrested and are currently under investigation.
Nonye Soludo, wife of Governor Soludo, also expressed anger over the despicable action by the security operatives, stressing that there was no justification for such an ugly and humiliating abuse. “I find the Oba incident very disturbing and appeal to appropriate authorities that are already looking into it to take critical measures to not only entrench justice but to, most importantly, ensure that we do not see such a worrisome scene ever again,” she said. NYSC in a statement by its Acting Director of Information and Public Relations, Caroline Embu, also condemned the attack, describing it as unacceptable and dehumanizing. It stressed that no justification could warrant such treatment of a Corps Member.
To say that the action by the vigilante operatives on the lady was humiliating is an understatement. It was in fact, bestial and cowardly on the men involved. It rankles in particular that the vigilante personnel recruited by the state government and funded by the Anambra tax payers to protect them from criminal elements in the face of failure by state security agencies, were the ones that turned their raw energies on the hapless lady. Though not exactly same in outcome, the ugly details of Jennifer Elohor’s ordeals bring to mind the tragic death of gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, sometime in 2022. The 42-year-old singer was initially said to have died of throat cancer, before her husband, Peter Nwachukwu, was found out to be responsible for her death. The beast has been sentenced to death by hanging for the offence. Before the Osinachi incident was the sordid story of Hanifa Abubakar, the five-year-old child that was killed by the proprietor of her school, Abdulmalik Tanko, in Nassarawa Local Government Area of Kano State, in December 2021.
Tanko, abducted Hanifa, took her to his house and contacted her family, demanding a ransom of N6 million. Despite collecting N100, 000 as part of the ransom, he still went ahead to kill the innocent girl. Next in the ugly recollection is that of Ochanya Elizabeth Ogbanje, the 13-year-old victim of sexual violence who died on October 17, 2018. Ochanya was serially and brutally raped by her 54-year-old uncle, a lecturer at the Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, Andrew Ogbuja and his son, for five years till she died of complications from Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF). A particular strand of fate ran through them; they were victims of violence, one way or the other and died in the hands of men who were supposed to protect them. Perhaps, Elohor’s case could have ended in such tragic manner but for divine intervention.
This is not the first time the men of Anambra security agency would be accused of involvement in unnecessary show of power. The operatives were recently accused of storming the house of the former president of Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Okechukwu Akaneme in the early morning of October 11, 2024 and brutalizing him, breaking his spinal cord in the process over false allegation of owing waste management levy. Complication from that spinal cord injury inflicted on Akaneme allegedly led to his death some weeks ago. Though the state government has contested the involvement of Operation Udo-ga-achi security agency in Akaneme’s death, overzealous actions of the operatives, are increasingly becoming worrisome.
It is good that Anambra state government has announced apprehending the agents suspected to have carried out the dastardly act against Corper Elohor. The reaction by the government should go beyond condemning the incident.
The rising incidences of humiliation of Nigerians, especially women, must be condemned in strong terms. The Jennifer Elohor affair must not be a norm and should not be swept under the carpet. To subject a Corps member living among a people to such inhuman treatment, runs against the spirit of the NYSC scheme and cannot be excused. For the abused to be a lady, makes the matter more disturbing. A man loses his worth and esteem the moment he raises his hands on a female. In the first instance, it is an encounter he comes out the loser, no matter the reason and how it ends. If a man wrestles a woman to the ground and pummels her, the society regards him as a coward who can only unleash his energy on the weaker sex. If it turns out the other way, he is mocked as a weakling that cannot even stand a woman. Win or lose, a man that victimizes a woman, carries the can.
The culprits in the instant case must be prosecuted and if found guilty, given commensurate punishment. The trial should be open and transparent. Jennifer Elohor deserves justice. The accused security operatives deserve the justice of stating their case. The society deserves the justice of knowing what actually happened. It is only by that that justice can be served and the matter conclusively rested.
There is need for Governor Soludo to review the mandate of the Operation Udo-ga-achi outfit. Abuse of human rights in Anambra by the operatives, has become one too many. Given the tide of insecurity in the South East region and country, vigilante arrangements are necessary but should be moderated and their actions properly monitored. Security agencies are supposed to protect the people and not to terrorise them. Let the NYSC and Anambra state government ensure delivery of justice in the Jennifer Elohor incident.
DURU is the Editor, TheNiche Online Newspapers, Lagos. (08054103327, nwaukpala@yahoo.com)