SARS operatives in Ogbaru LGA of Anambra State have brutalised a serving member of the National Youth Service Corps.
According to the victim, Miss Akinlabi: “On 17th of September 2020 by 2:00am, a team of people broke into our compound claiming to be SARS and searching for yahoo guys.
They broke my window net, pointed their torchlight at my face while asleep and commanded me to open the entrance door for them. I was scared to do as commanded because I couldn’t identify who they were.
Some of them later broke in by cutting off the burglary. They started assaulting me by slapping and hitting me with cutlasses and sticks.
At this point, I was practically naked and had to plead with them to allow me to put on my clothes which they eventually allowed but violated my privacy as I was forced to dress up in their presence.
The beating continued after that and I got handcuffed like a common criminal for an offence I knew nothing about. I and another guy in the lodge were taken to their van and they asked us to stand in the rain for hours.
They insisted on us giving them money for fuel before we could be released. The following morning, I called my LGI first and my PPA principal and they both asked me to go to the police station to make a report.
On getting there, one officer insisted on writing my statement by herself and in her own way. Please note that I never wrote or signed any statement at the police station as the officer refused to allow me to do so.”
Akinlabi has called on the Inspector-General of Police, rights groups and the international community to investigate the brutal invasion of her residence and assault against her and bring the officers to book.
