Nigerians are demanding justice for single mother allegedly raped by Kogi Commissioner, Abdulmumuni Danga
Some Nigerian activists have launched an online petition against a Commissioner in Kogi State who allegedly abducted, brutalised and sexually abused a 22-year-old lady over her Facebook post.
Abdulmumuni Danga, the State’s Commissioner of Water Resources, was alleged to have brutalised Elizabeth Oyeniyi, a single mother of one and raped her multiple times over a post she made on social media about the politician.
According to the victim, the incidence occurred on Sunday March 29th 2020 following a Facebook post she made on the same day. In the post, she said she had enjoined Abdulmumuni to extend his act of benevolence to members of his family just as he has been doing to his political family.
Elizabeth said when she heard that the commissioner was distributing relief materials for COVID-19, she made a post on social media asking him to lend helping hand to his (commissioner) sister, who is her friend with the caption “Charity begins at home”.
It is believed that the post irked Danga who reportedly ordered thugs to pick up Elizabeth and her three-year old son from their residence at Okene and taken to Lokoja, the state capital.
According to the victim, she was stripped naked, sexually violated and flogged by Danga who also filmed a naked recording of her and smashed her phone in the presence of her child. Elizabeth’s arms and thighs were severely blistered following the torture from the thugs and the commissioner.
After the attack, Elizabeth said Danga drove her to a hotel close to the Kogi State House in Lokoja, where he forcefully had sex with her three times before daybreak and offered her N30,000 which she refused before she was released on Monday March 30.
Narrating her ordeal in a video shared by Dorothy Njemanze of Dorothy Njemanze Foundation, the group leading the call for justice for Elizabeth, the victim said:
“They flogged me. He flogged me himself, stripped me naked and made a video of me threatening to post it when next I make any public comment about it.
“They also made me apologise that what I said about him was not true under duress. I had to do so because they were all over me.
“He did not release me that day, rather he took me to a hotel nearby. Over the night, he made advances and raped me,” Elizabeth said.
Elizabeth said she had to run to Abuja for safety from Kogi where the incident happened.
Meanwhile, Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has ordered an investigation into the allegations against Danga, pne of his cabinet members, a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsley Fanwo, revealed this.
When contacted for comments by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Danga told the publication that he preferred the matter to be left as it is and he neither affirmed nor denied the allegations against him.
As at the time of filing this report, the online petition has gathered 3,556 signatures out of 5,000 demanded by the advocates on change.org.
This is not the first time a political office holder in the country will be assaulting a citizen. In 2019, Senator Elisha Abbo from Adamawa State was caught in a CCTV footage brutalising a lady at a shop in Abuja. The footage sparked public outcry which forced the police to wade into the incident. Abbo is still standing trial before a court in Abuja.
