How I was raped, offered blood as water by herders

TRACKING____A rape victim, Victoria Okocha, has painted a horrible picture of how she was abducted by herdsmen, raped in turns and offered human blood as drinking water.

Vicky, as she is fondly called, also narrated how the herdsmen butchered another female who they roasted as meat in her presence.

Giving a graphic account about her ordeal, the lady, who is in her 20’s, told newsmen: “I am from Ubulu-Uku, Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State. Last Friday night, we were travelling from Ubulu-Uku to Asaba through Ogwashi-Uku.

Suddenly we saw ahead of us a fallen tree across the road at Isa-Ogwashi, just before you enter Ogwashi-Uku town.

We thought it was the heavy rainfall that fell the tree, but when we drove close, the person in the passenger seat in front of the vehicle said it seemed armed robbers had blocked the road.

“As we wanted to reverse, one of the attackers emerged from the bush, hit the window of the driver’s side and tried to drag the driver out of the vehicle.

Some other passengers jumped out and ran into the bush. I wanted to run but I developed muscle cramp and fell and that was how they got me. They took me into the bush that night.”

Continuing, she said: “They were five in number. They later inflicted machete cuts on the driver of our car but he escaped with injuries.

They demanded N20 million ransom from me, but I told them I am from a poor family that we cannot afford such amount. They threatened to cut my breast and pluck my eyes if my people refused to pay, saying that breasts and eyes give them more money nowadays.

“Shortly after, I became friendly with their leader, who was the only one that speaks English among them. They threatened to rape me and five of them eventually took turns to rape me that night. My hands were tied, they blindfolded me and I was very weak and hungry.

“I told them I have a family member I can call, so I called the person (Afamefune) who answered and told them there is no way he could raise such amount. They later reduced it to N5 million but I begged them to accept anything even if it is N100,000.

They said they cannot release me without taking anything from me. They still threatened to cut my breast and pluck my eyes.

“I was with them in the bush for two days. Later my people were able to raise some money in N500 notes, which they dropped for them according to their instruction. They asked me if the money was fake notes and I told them it was real. Then I remembered I had N3,000 in N500 notes in my bag.

I told them and they brought out my N3,000 and gave me back N1,000.”

She added that they not only killed a girl in her presence, but also roasted her body, which they ate later. They offered me the blood of their victim to drink, but I declined.

They said they have no water to give me. They themselves were drinking the blood of the girl.

“So, after collecting my money, their leader said they wanted to kill me but that he will help me to escape. He started giving them instruction in their Fulani language and all four left the place.

I guess they went to fetch water because of what they were carrying. Then their leader untied me and asked me to run away.

“I ran and entered a road I didn’t know where it was leading me to. I came out and saw a vehicle and I narrated my ordeal to them. They too have heard of the kidnap because they were from my town.

They asked if I was the person that was kidnapped and I told them yes. That’s how they helped and took me back to my town. The kidnappers even pursued the vehicle when they saw us leaving, but the driver sped off.”

Meanwhile, Ubulu-Uku residents have sent a Save-our-Soul to the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to wade into the matter with herdsmen laying siege on the community and taking over their farmland.

A youth leader in the area, John Chukwuka, said: “We are predominantly farmers, but we can’t go to our farms anymore because the armed herdsmen have taken over our farmlands. They now use us as their ATM.

Anyone who goes to the farm does that at his or her own risk. The person will pay dearly for it. The Delta State Police Command seems to be overwhelmed. That is why we urgently want the IGP’s intervention to deploy his Intelligence Response Team (IRT) to fish the hoodlums out.”