A legal luminary, Cyrus Onu, who is counsel to Jennifer Elobor, the female National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member assaulted by local security operatives in Anambra State, has made fresh revelations on the matter.
The lawyer appeared on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, where he alleged that the attackers threatened to rape and kill the corps member for daring to speak out during the ordeal.
According to him, “They (security agents) were banging the door, and Jennifer was trying to open the door, and they just kicked the door, and it almost hit their face.
“Most of them were masked in mufti with guns, so you can imagine how scared the kids [corps members] were.
“They [security agents] didn’t give any identification. They just said, ‘Come down, come down. You’re all thieves! You’re all ‘Yahoo’ people!’
“When they tried to drag them downstairs, Jennifer was insisting that if they must take them anywhere, they should allow them [corps members] to call their LGI [Local Government Inspector] because the corps members did not know who the operatives were,” the lawyer said.
“That was when they started pouncing on her. They made derogatory comments, asking her who gave her the right as a lady to speak to them anyhow. They started beating her.
“She asked them to allow her to change into something appropriate, and they said, ‘That thing you’re trying to cover, we’ll see it today. We’ll beat you up, we’ll rape you, kill you, and dump you, and nobody can say anything,” Onu added.
The lawyer further alleged that the Anambra security operatives threatened to kill Jennifer Elobor’s colleagues who attempted to defend her.
NATIONAL POST recalls that there has been outrage ever since a video went viral showing where the corps member was beaten and stripped by men of the Anambra State security operatives.
The Nigerian Bar Association, Mr Peter Obi, former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, among others have all condemned the incident.