Zainab Oladehinde,
the allegedly assaulted Nigerian tourist in Zanzibar, says the staff of the
hotel had confessed to the crime before the police dismissed the case.
Oladehinde had earlier narrated her
near-r@pe experience at Warere Beach Hotel Nungwi in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
She said she travelled to Zanzibar on April 15, 2021, and
booked a room at the beach-side hotel to celebrate her birthday.
The Nigerian alleged that, in the early hours of April 17, she felt a hand stroking her unclad body in her pitch-dark room.
She said this was despite that she had locked herself in
before going to bed the night before.
Oladehinde said she woke up in shock to a naked male who
attempted to rape her but she eventually escaped.
The accuser said she had reported the matter to the hotel
but they dismissed her story as “lies”.
She added that the Tanzanian police also dismissed the case
after a medical exam showed there was no penetration.
The hotel had countered Oladehinde’s account, saying it
tried its best to support her after the incident but she refused to take the
case further after it was reported to the Zanzibar authorities in 2021.
Warere Beach Hotel had alleged, in a now-deleted statement, that the accuser was
having an affair with one of the security guards who it said claimed to have
accessed her room with her consent.
It also alleged that the police suggested the matter was a
case for the civil courts but the accuser had threatened to “tarnish” the
hotel’s image if not compensated with $10,000.
In a follow-up Twitter
thread, however, Oladehinde claimed that the two staff
members suspected in the case had confessed to the crime while at the station
before the dismissal by the police.
“After the policemen at the Nungwi police station chased me
out of their police custody on the 18th of April, 2021, the district
commissioner for tourism, Hon. Sadifa contacted me and sent his
representatives,” the accuser tweeted.
“My friend had done a google search and contacted the
commissioner earlier during the day.
“His representatives came to the police station. After
listening to what I said and how I had been maltreated by the police, they
condemned the policemen and started interrogating the suspects.
“One of the suspects
who happened to be the security man at the hotel confessed to the crime. He was
taken into the police cell immediately. He also said he had an accomplice who
was the kitchen staff.
“In his words, he said the kitchen staff told him to come to
my room and they both committed the crime together. The security man and the
kitchen staff were kept in the police cell that night.
“This brings me to the fact that my instincts were right to
not have called the attention of the men I saw by the pool that midnight
because they were the same men who came into my room. The security man and the
kitchen staff.”
Amid public outrage, the authorities in Zanzibar had vowed to re-investigate the
matter.
Read the full follow-up
thread here:
I knew the world wouldn’t believe me if I eventually tell
my story one day. I’d share more details about my ordeal from Zanzibar and I
hope you read this as a mother, as a father, as a sister, as a friend, and as
someone who has loved ones they deeply care about.
After the policemen at the Nungwi police station chased
me out of their police custody on the 18th of April, 2021. The district
commissioner for tourism, Hon. Sadifa contacted me and sent his representatives
to the police station.
My friend had done a google search and contacted the
commissioner earlier during the day.
His representatives came to the police station and after
listening to what I said and how I had been maltreated by the police, they
condemned the policemen and started interrogating the suspects.
One of the suspects who happened to be the security man
at the hotel confessed to the crime. He was taken into the police cell
immediately. He also said he had an accomplice who was the kitchen staff.
In his words, he said the kitchen staff told him to come
to my room and they both committed the crime together. The security man and the
kitchen staff were kept in the police cell that night.
This brings me to the fact that my instincts were right
to not have called the attention of the men I saw by the pool that midnight
because they were the same men who came into my room. The security man and the
kitchen staff. In his words, he said the kitchen staff told him to come to my
room and they both committed the crime together.
The security man and the kitchen staffer were kept in the
police cell that night.
I went back to the hotel that night feeling tired, sad,
and angry.
This wasn’t the ideal birthday I had imagined in my head.
Hon. Sadifa demanded that the hotel put an extra security
person at my door that night so I could feel safe a bit.
I knew I needed lawyers so I googled Zanzibar lawyers and
found a law firm online called Zanzibar Female Lawyers (ZFL) Association.
I contacted them at 8 pm that night and sent my story to
them via WhatsApp messages in hopes that they’d respond to me.
I requested to speak with the general manager of the
hotel, Ms. Elizma. I asked her to come to see me in my room.
Ms. Elizma came to my room trying to sympathize with me.
During our conversations, I requested that she allowed me to interview her so I
can have our conversation on record.
I asked her questions regarding the incident and the
steps the hotel would take to make sure I get justice.
She admitted that the incident happened and we called the
hotel reception at midnight but she was on leave which is why there was no one
at the reception that midnight.
She kept on saying she can’t confirm if the kitchen
staffer was part of the crime and that the security man who confessed to the
crime was not a direct staffer of the hotel.
When I asked Ms. Elizma, the hotel’s general manager
about my stolen money, she said the hotel would give me food and accommodation
as compensation for my stolen funds.
The next day on the 19th of April, The Zanzibar Female
lawyers association responded to me and gave me an address to meet up with them
the next day.
We went back to the police station to have a meeting with
the district commissioner where I informed him that I’d need my lawyers present
and would want to be taken out of Warere Beach Hotel as I didn’t feel safe
there any longer.
The district commissioner, Hon. Sadifa took me out of
Warere Beach hotel immediately and lodged me in a new hotel Next Paradise
Boutique Hotel Zanzibar.
On meeting with my lawyers, Mrs. Jumah and Miss. Salma on
the 20th of April 2021, they suggested that we demand [from] Warere Beach a
full refund for my trip, the cost of my medical bills, my missed tour
activities, and experiences, also to pay for damages on insecurity and
negligence.
The lawyers and the authorities rounded this amount to
$10,000 for damages.
This meeting was with my lawyers, Hon. Sadifa and
Tanzanian immigration officers as my lawyers suggested I get my trip extended
since I was supposed to be back in Lagos on the 22nd of April.
My lawyers and the district commissioner later summoned
the hotel’s owner who was represented by her husband and told him the hotel
would have to pay for damages to which he objected.
The co-owner of the hotel said I had 2 more days to stay
in Zanzibar and I should press charges on the company they hired the security
man from At this time, they had released the kitchen staff from the police
custody and claimed the hotel had no relation to my incident anymore as their
direct staff “the kitchen staff” wasn’t a part of the crime.
The Zanzibar female lawyers association suggested we take
the case to the office of the second Vice President On the 24th of April, my
family sent me some money via money gram since I’d be extending my stay and Mr.
Suley the driver took me where I could get it in cash.
At this point, they had released the security man and the
kitchen staff from the police custody even after they had testified to the
crime. The lawyers couldn’t get an early appointment at the office of the Vice
President as it was during the Ramadan season.
My lawyers got an appointment date with the second Vice
President for the 2nd of May and begged me to stay in Zanzibar till May before
leaving.
I didn’t want to oblige as I had a job to return to in
Lagos but with the trauma, the hotel had put me through, I wanted their
hospitality license revoked for their gross negligence and insecurity which
almost took my life.
On the 2nd of May 2021. I, my lawyers, and the
commissioner got to the office of the second vice president and the
representative of the vice president said the government would take legal
action against the hotel but they would need to invite the hotel owner for a
meeting.
I was tired at this point and couldn’t wait to get back
home so I changed my flight ticket to leave Tanzania on the same day as the
final meeting.
The Holy Spirit had ministered to me that my life was in
danger and I needed to leave that country as soon as possible.
On the day of the final meeting at the government house,
I noticed the owner of the hotel and the representative of the Vice President
were friends as they kept laughing and exchanging pleasantries. During this
meeting, I suggested they speak English as I couldn’t hear what they were
saying.
They claimed some of the officials present at the meeting
do not understand English My lawyers presented my case once again insisting I
couldn’t take them to court as that would mean I’d have to stay in Zanzibar for
a longer period for court witness hearing.
The owner of the hotel insisted it was a personal case
and none of his concern as the security man wasn’t a direct staff of the hotel.
At the end of the meeting when I tried to leave for the airport, the government
officials demanded to check my phone if I was recording.
My lawyers told them they wouldn’t allow them to search
my phones as it was an intrusion into my privacy but they locked the doors
against me and the female lawyers and said we wouldn’t leave without them
conducting the search.
Because I had a flight to catch back to Lagos that same
day and I didn’t want to miss my flight, I allowed their I.T personnel at the
government house to search my phone. He went through all my WhatsApp messages,
files, pictures, and everything on my phone.
They finally let us leave the room when they saw I didn’t
record the conversation we had in that meeting. I left that office and
proceeded to the airport. This day was the 5th of May, 2021. I had spent 3
weeks in Zanzibar and did everything I could to get justice for myself.
I left Tanzania a broken woman. The security man and the
kitchen staff still walk freely, the hotel kept operating their business as
usual but I became a shadow of myself. I’m still in therapy as I still suffer
from the PTSD of that incident.
I would like to commend the Zanzibar Female lawyers
association and Hon. Sadifa. These people did everything they could to ensure I
get justice but they were silenced by everyone as the owner of the hotel
frolics with top officials in the government.
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