Sisters cry out over assault by Abuja civil defence official

Two sisters, Amarachi Ugwueze, 19, and Chidinma Ugwueze, 21, have cried out in Abuja over assaults on them by their brother, Emmanuel Ugwueze, who was said to be an official of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

Following news and pictures of the abuse circulating on social media, The PUNCH reached out to the two victims on Saturday, who spoke expressly on how Ugwueze had been physically torturing them since last year in their house in Abuja.

One of the sisters, Amarachi, said she had gone to her brother’s house, on instructions of her mother, to spend two weeks following the absence of the house help who was preoccupied with other things, adding that after the two weeks, she was not allowed to return home by her brother.

Amarachi, who said she never wanted to stay in Mr Ugwueze’s house because of the kind of person the civil defence man was, said she called her mum and her sister to complain to them.

“I called my mum and sisters and told them what is happening in the house. My mum and sisters were not happy about the whole situation and my mum said I should be patient that after Christmas I would come home. Christmas came and passed, he refused to let me come home.

“So, when I came to the family house to pack some of my clothes, he asked me to open my phone and saw my chat with my friends and asked if I have a boyfriend and I told him yes. He said what gave me the right to have a boyfriend and own an android phone that all the girls on my contact list are into hook-up.

“On January 24, he came home with my other brother to beat me and my sister. He tore my admission letter that I’m not going to school until he feels like he wants me to. He beats me from 10 pm to 4 am in the morning. He asked my elder sister to bring iron to use on my body. He and my brothers took turns in hitting me, saying that I’m stubborn. He hit me continuously even when I was bleeding. He removed my finger nails too.

“I couldn’t report to any one because this is not the first time he is hitting me and I’m scared to go to any station because the first time he hit me, I reported the case to a human right activist who came home and settle the matter. When he left, my brother came back and hit me again, he threatened me that he had everyone under his control, that his power, connection, and money is there for him.

“He also collected my phone and asked me to remove my shirt and he pressed my private part. It was very painful and traumatising. I couldn’t do anything. He said he wanted to know if I had done any abortion,” Amarachi told our correspondent.

She said further that when her elder sister, Chidinma, tried to complain in the house, Chidinma was equally hit by Mr Ugwueze.

She added that Ugwueze had torn her documents including her admission letter, saying that she would never go to school again.

“Reasons why he hit me recently on Wednesday was because he said I had the mind to collect another phone and did my SIM welcome-back,” she said, revealing pictures of injuries on her body which had resulted from the beating.

Some of the pictures obtained by our correspondent also showed blood marks on the wall of one of the rooms where the assaults had allegedly taken place.

It was also gathered that on Friday, the two sisters, while trying to escape and report the case, they were blocked on the way by some persons allegedly sent by their brother, who forcefully tried to bring them back home until passers-by intervened and the matter got to Wuse Zone 3 police station and subsequently transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department.

It was gathered that one of their brothers who was among those who crossed them on their way out, was eventually detained at the police station.

It was gathered that as at Friday when Mr Ugwueze was invited by the police, he had yet to show up.

The PUNCH reached out to Mr Ugwueze on Sunday, who said he only disciplined his sisters who were going the wrong way, and he had to put them in shape, adding that he had been responsible for their upbringing, including their admissions.

“I have six sisters and I am the one training all of them,” he said.

Mr Ugwueze said Amarachi was only 17 years plus and he disciplined her in front of their mother after the mother had reported to him.

“I have all my evidences of what she was doing that led to me flogging her. What led to me flogging her was because I asked her to give me her phone. I seized her first phone, I told her I don’t want her to use phone for now, or be on social media.

When asked about assaulting Chidinma who is 21 years, he said, “I disciplined them, Chidinma is misleading Amarachi.”

Ugwueze said he had asked Amarachi to go and learn tailoring or go to the police college but she refused because of her boyfriend.

“The day I was going out to discipline Amarachi, I saw Chidinma coming out of a hotel.

“I had asked her to write an agreement with me that every Sunday she would go to church. I told her to join the choir but she refused.

Contrary to flogging them in his own house, Ugwueze said, “I flogged them in my family house. The immediate younger brother said I should not be the one flogging them that he is the one supposed to be flogging them that I am too big to be flogging them.”

Mr Ugwueze also said that Amarachi’s admission letter and other documents were with him, adding that he seized them pending when she decided to live a good life. Amarachi had said that Mr Ugwueze tore her admission documents.

The two sisters, who were now in hiding, cried out that their safety could not be guaranteed.