They Stripped Her Dignity, Not Just Her Clothes”: Nigeria Must Never Normalise the Vigilante Brutalisation of NYSC Members in Anambra State.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by saharaweeklyng.com

On August 19–20, 2025, Nigerians woke up to a horror no society should tolerate: ARMED MEN BELIEVED to be OPERATIVES of a LOCAL VIGILANTE OUTFIT in ANAMBRA STATE stormed a corpers’ lodge in Oba, Idemili South LGA, beat National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members and stripped a young woman naked while she cried for help. The viral footage (too degrading to describe in full) ignited national outrage and a flurry of official statements. The Anambra State Government condemned the attack; arrests were announced; NYSC leadership decried the assault; and, in a further twist, the police claimed their investigation had been stalled because the principal victim had not yet appeared to give a statement. None of this changes the fundamental truth: what happened in Oba was not “OVERZEALOUSNESS.” It was a crime against the person and a desecration of the Republic’s promise to its youth.

Let us be exact about the facts, because accuracy is the first refuge of justice. Multiple reputable outlets reported that the assault occurred in Oba, Idemili South. The victim has been identified in press reports as Edema Jennifer Elohor; some reports also reference her NYSC details. The Anambra State Government publicly condemned the attack; the Governor’s wife, Dr. Nonye Soludo, called it “UNACCEPTABLE, DISTURBING and DEHUMANIZING” the state disclosed that the implicated vigilante operatives had been identified and arrested. The NYSC, for its part, issued a statement condemning the abuse and insisting that justice be done. Meanwhile, the Anambra State Police Command stated on August 19 that its probe was hampered because the victim had not yet appeared; an assertion that, while procedurally relevant, is morally secondary to the primary offence captured on video.

Strip away the bureaucratic phrasing and the politics and you are left with an assault on the basic covenant between state and citizen. As the political theorist Max Weber reminded us, the modern state claims a monopoly over the legitimate use of force. That monopoly is not a blank cheque; it is confined by law, due process and the inherent dignity of the human person. Whatever name the Anambra outfit goes by (AGUNECHEMBA VIGILANTE GROUP or “SECURITY NETWORK”) its personnel do not stand above the Constitution. They are bound by it. As Chinua Achebe warned, “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.” Leadership that tolerates humiliation as a tool of “SECURITY” corrodes public trust and invites anarchy.

No one should romanticise vigilante structures. Community security outfits can deter petty crime and supplement overstretched police units; but without strict training, supervision and accountability, they easily mutate into instruments of fear. Hannah Arendt wrote that “the rule of law; means that the law rules,” not men with cudgels deciding who is an “INTERNET FRAUDSTER” based on whim. On the video evidence and the admissions reported so far, there was no lawful arrest protocol, no presumption of innocence and certainly no respect for bodily integrity. It is barbarism disguised as order.

The NYSC scheme embodies a national promise: THAT OUR GRADUATES WILL SERVE and in RETURN the NATION will GUARD THEM. When that promise is broken, we do not merely injure an individual; we vandalise a national institution. Wole Soyinka’s admonition rings painfully true here: “The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.” Silence after Oba would be complicity. If we allow VIGILANTE HUMILIATION to pass as “ROUTINE CHECKS,” we invite a bleak future where uniforms (any uniforms) become licences to degrade.

Accountability must therefore be immediate, transparent and exemplary. First, the Anambra State Government should publish, within days, the names, ranks and chain of command of all personnel implicated in the Oba assault, together with the statutory basis under which their outfit operates. Second, prosecutors should file charges that reflect the gravity of the CONDUCT ASSAULT OCCASIONING HARM, CONSPIRACY, CRIMINAL INTIMIDATION and any SEXUAL OFFENCES implicated by the public stripping; rather than the limp euphemism of “UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT.” Third, oversight cannot stop at the foot soldiers. Who armed, accredited and deployed these men? What rules of engagement were they trained to follow? What disciplinary records exist? These answers belong in open court and in a public white paper.

To the Nigeria Police Force: the public will accept procedural updates, but not procedural excuses. Yes, complainant testimony strengthens a case. But Nigeria prosecutes murder without the victim’s testimony; it can prosecute a filmed assault too. The video evidence, corroborating eyewitness accounts and the suspects’ own admissions can sustain a prosecution. The state cannot outsource justice to a traumatised young woman’s availability. Build the case; protect the victim; proceed. As Nelson Mandela taught, “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” The duty to vindicate those rights rests with public institutions not with the wounded alone.

To the NYSC hierarchy: do more than condemn. Demand binding MOUs with state governments detailing protection protocols for corps members 24/7 emergency hotlines that route directly to a state-level joint operations room; mandatory body-worn cameras for any non-police outfit that interacts with corps lodges; and rapid suspension-and-reporting clauses that trigger when any outfit detains an NYSC member. Publish a quarterly safety dashboard: incidents, responses, outcomes. Sunlight disciplines power.

To Governor Chukwuma Soludo: your government’s condemnation is right and the reported arrests are necessary; but this is an inflection point. Order an immediate audit of all quasi-security structures in Anambra; mandates, training curricula, oversight and complaint mechanisms. Suspend field operations of any outfit that cannot demonstrate compliance with human-rights standards. Constitute an independent panel (including the NBA, civil society, women’s groups and a retired judge) to report within 30 days on gaps and reforms. Anything less would be administrative theatre.

To the National Assembly: legislate, do not lament. Nigeria needs a uniform federal framework for community and vigilante outfits: licensing, training standards, clear subordination to the police command, use-of-force policies aligned with human-rights law, compulsory insurance, body cameras and criminal liability for supervisors who tolerate abuse. Create a federal registry; unregistered groups must be disbanded. Without this, the “MONOPOLY of LEGITIMATE FORCE” becomes a caricature, scattered among mobs with muskets.

To the public: OUTRAGE is not ENOUGH. Demand the specific. Ask Anambra’s Attorney-General for the charge sheet. Ask the Police Commissioner for the case number and the lead investigator’s name. Ask NYSC what new protection protocols will be in place by the next orientation camp. Democracy is not a spectator sport; it is a contact sport for citizens of conscience.

Above all, we must centre the victim’s dignity and safety. TRAUMA-INFORMED care is not charity; it is justice. Anambra should guarantee medical and psychosocial support, personal security and legal assistance; immediately and at state expense. If the victim chooses privacy, respect it. If she chooses to testify, protect her. Justice that RE-VICTIMISES is no justice at all.

Let us end where we must: with first principles. A nation that cannot keep its young safe while they serve is not serious about its future. The Oba assault was a line-crossing event; an alarm bell. We either rebuild the guardrails now or we normalise public cruelty. Achebe cautioned that “one of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.” Nigeria’s integrity is on trial in Anambra. We must refuse compromise.

ACTION POINTS WE EXPECT TO SEE WITHIN 30 DAYS:

Charge and arraign all implicated operatives; publish the case status weekly.

Suspend and retrain the vigilante outfit; enforce a rights-compliant code of conduct with body cameras and documented stop-and-search protocols.

Victim-centred relief: medical care, counselling, legal support and protection.

NYSC–State MOU on corps members’ safety with joint hotlines and rapid response teams.

Independent review panel with a public report on community-security reform.

If these steps are taken (visibly, verifiable) Anambra can turn a shameful episode into a constitutional reset. If not, the message to every corps member is chilling: YOUR KHAKI OFFERS NO SHIELD. That must never be our message.

Sources consulted for factual verification include national dailies and official statements reporting the location (Oba, Idemili South), the NYSC’s condemnation, the state’s reaction and arrests and the police’s update on the investigation. See: Punch’s breaking coverage of the outrage; Vanguard’s report quoting Dr. Nonye Soludo and noting arrests; NYSC’s public condemnation and victim identification in contemporaneous reporting; and Sahara Reporters’ detailed account of the police statement and the vigilante group involved.

“Justice is what love looks like in public.” ~ Cornel West. Today, love demands we defend our children in khaki; without fear, without favour and without delay.

Hunger in the Streets, Lights Out, Roads Dead, Insecurity High; yet Billions in the State House: Tinubu and Ministers Demand Fatter Pay While Nigeria Bleeds.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | For SaharaWeeklyNG.com

Nigeria stands at a crossroads: blackouts haunt our cities, bandits rule our highways, craters replace roads and hunger gnaws at daily life. Yet the very guardians meant to deliver relief (our President, ministers and top officials) are now eyeing SALARY HIKES, even as POVERTY DEEPENS.

Basic Salaries vs. True Take-Home Pay. The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has reiterated that the President’s basic monthly salary is roughly ₦1.17 million, with ministers receiving about ₦1 million and agency heads like the CBN Governor earning up to 10 times more.

Let us go beyond the “BASIC SALARY” headlines. A recent breakdown highlights the substantive financial reality:

President (Tinubu):
Basic salary: ₦292,892/month
Consolidated allowances: ₦878,676/month
Estimated total: ₦1,171,568/month (≈₦14.06 million/year), EXCLUDING estacodes, duty tour, security, housing, travel, gratuity and more.

Ministers:
From the earlier RMAFC schedule (2008 framework still operative)
Basic salary: ₦168,867/month
Motor vehicle fuelling & maintenance (75%): ₦126,650/month
Personal assistant (25%): ₦42,217/month
Domestic staff (75%): ₦122,349/month
Entertainment (45%): ₦73,409/month
Utilities (30%): ₦48,939/month
Monitoring, newspapers and other allowances: small additional amounts
Estimated total: ≈₦628,057/month (basic + scheduled allowances).

These figures still don’t account for discretionary perks, like duty-tour allowances (₦35,000/day within Nigeria), estacodes (up to USD 4,000/day while abroad), security allowances, housing upkeep, travel entitlements and severance packages that cumulatively add tens of millions annually.

Context Is Everything and Context Is Miserable.
When RMAFC labels the President’s salary as only ₦1.17 million a month “A JOKE,” are they misjudging or insulting suffering Nigerians? That sum might look modest until you add the tang of FREE RESIDENCES, ARMORED CONVOYS, INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL TRIPS, ESTACODES and FOREIGN ALLOWANCES that the public foots the bill for.

Last year (2023), RMAFC quietly proposed a 114% salary hike for politicians and judges sparking public outrage. It failed. Now, in 2025 amidst rising cost of living and persistent power cuts, the same proposal reemerges with arrogance intact and empathy discarded.

What Scholars Teach Us.
Economist Amartya Sen teaches us that true development expands individual freedoms; FREEDOM from HUNGER, FEAR, ILLNESS and IGNORANCE. What kind of freedom is it when POVERTY CLAWS at our families while our leaders weigh pay hikes? Nelson Mandela urges that a nation should be judged not by how it treats the powerful, but how it cares for its weakest.

The widening divide (a President earning almost ₦1,2 million/month while citizens faint for electricity, about ₦1 miillion for ministers while the roads are impassable) is a moral indictment, not a policy question.

Rebalancing, Not Reckless Raises, Should Be the Priority.
RMAFC’s own admission frames the problem: “CBN governors and some DGs earn 10× more.”

A SYSTEM THAT SELLS incompetence AND CHEAP AND OVERPAY UNELECTED OFFICIALS IS BROKEN.

The remedy? Rebalance; not raise:

Harmonise pay across public service: Normalize compensation so unelected appointees do not overshadow elected leaders.

Cut unnecessary overheads: Expense a leaner government with strict “VALUE-FOR-MONEY” checks on convoys, delegations and discretionary spending.

Tie raises to delivery: No improvements in electricity availability, road rehabilitation, school functionality or crime rates? No pay rise.

Publish the Real Numbers (Transparency).

Citizens deserve to see everything. This month’s paycheck is one thing; what about:
HOUSING MAINTENANCE
SECURITY STAFFING
TRAVEL COSTS (domestic and international)
ESTACODES and DUTY-TOUR ENTITLEMENTS
GRATUITY/SEVERANCE PACKAGES

Publish every line item and let truth be the basis for accountability.

The Facts Nigerians Must Hold On To.
Tinubu’s income: ₦292,892 basic + ₦878,676 allowances = ₦1.17 million monthly (₦14 million/year), per RMAFC-referenced breakdowns.

Ministers: approximately ₦628,000 monthly, based on 2008 statutory schedule.

RMAFC noted pay disparity: CBN and DG salaries tower over the President’s.

2023 proposal for 114% hike died under public outrage; its revival is cynically timed.

What Accountability Looks Like (A Citizen’s Demand).

Moratorium on raises until key indicators improve (POWER SUPPLY, INFRASTRUCTURE, SECURITY)

Full compensation disclosure: PUBLISH ALL COMPONENTS OF TOP OFFICES’ COSTS.

Cap and reform: LOWER OUTLIER PAY RATHER THAN RAISE COLLECTIVE AVERAGE

Institutional safeguards: SUBJECT FUTURE REMUNERATION CHANGES to PUBLIC HEARINGS and CLEAR PERFORMANCE METRICS

As John Rawls argues, social and economic inequalities are justifiable only if they benefit the least advantaged. Our current scenario (elite enrichment amid mass suffering) is a reversal of that principle.

Our Fearless Demand.
Nigerians pay the price with taxes, suffering and resilience. To ask for higher pay now is to punish hardship. As Thomas Sankara famously declared, “He who feeds you, controls you.” We feed this system. We demand that governance be accountability, competence and service, not compensation without consequence.

So here’s the message: No increases until the lights shine. No raises until hunger fades. No scale-ups until our roads, schools and people are healed.

Politics: The Art of Many Faces, One Story.

By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published by SaharaWeeklyNG.com

When Mr. Olamilekan, a close friend also known as Baba Elizabeth asked me, “What is politics and do you understand how it works?” my mind did not run to the classroom definitions from textbooks. Instead, I remembered a true life story about Jacob, a Russian Jew who emigrated to Israel. His experience captured politics in its purest form; ONE STORY, THREE AUDIENCES, THREE MEANINGS and ONE ULTIMATE ADVANTAGE.

At Moscow airport, Jacob was questioned about carrying a statue of Lenin. To the Russian customs officer, he described LENIN as a NATIONAL HERO who laid the FOUNDATION of SOCIALISM; an answer that FLATTERED SOVIET IDEOLOGY. At Tel Aviv airport, facing Israeli officers, Jacob described LENIN as the very man who PERSECUTED JEWS, forcing him to flee; a completely opposite narrative that RESONATED with ISRAEL’S POLITICAL HISTORY. Finally, in his new Tel Aviv home, Jacob revealed the true meaning: the STATUE was NOTHING but FIVE KILOGRAMS of SOLID GOLD, smuggled past CUSTOMS as POLITICAL THEATER.

That, in essence, is POLITICS. It is the art of telling the same story in different ways, to different audiences for different benefits. Politics is not always about TRUTH, but about PERCEPTION. It is not about CONSISTENCY, but about ADAPTABILITY. And as Machiavelli once wrote in The Prince (1532): “A wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests.”

This story is more than a CLEVER ANECDOTE. It is a mirror reflecting the contradictions, manipulations and strategies that define political life across the world.

Defining Politics Beyond the Textbook.
Aristotle called politics “the master science” because it determines how societies are organized, governed and directed. Max Weber, the German sociologist, famously defined politics as “the striving to share power or striving to influence the distribution of power, either among states or among groups within a state.”

In reality, politics is not only about institutions, constitutions or elections; it is about narratives. The power of storytelling, framing and persuasion often outweighs the power of policies or ideologies. A politician who can bend one story to fit three audiences, just as Jacob did, can control hearts, minds and eventually, resources.

The Power of Narratives in Politics.
From ancient Rome to modern-day democracies, the ability to tell stories that adapt to circumstances has defined great political figures. Julius Caesar was not just a general but also a master of propaganda, writing Commentarii de Bello Gallico not for military records but to sway Roman citizens and the Senate in his favor.

In the United States, Abraham Lincoln could speak of freedom and unity in the North while subtly assuring border states that emancipation was gradual; a political balancing act that kept the Union together. Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan, “Yes, we can,” was not policy; it was narrative. It spoke differently to minorities, liberals, youth and even moderate conservatives, yet carried one story of hope.

Politics, therefore, is never just about ideology. It is about packaging ideology to suit different ears. ~ George O. Sylvester

The Nigerian Example: One Nation, Many Stories.
In Nigeria, politics is practiced as a theater of narratives, where politicians tell different stories depending on whether they are in Kano, Lagos, Port Harcourt or Enugu. A politician campaigning in the North may wrap his speeches with religious undertones, while in the South, the same politician may emphasize economic empowerment.

As Chinua Achebe warned in his classic The Trouble with Nigeria (1983): “The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.”

Leadership failure often comes not from incompetence alone, but from the dangerous art of tailoring narratives for political survival rather than national progress. Politicians, like Jacob, often present themselves as patriots in Abuja, tribal champions in their villages and reformers in foreign conferences; all while smuggling their “SOLID GOLD” in the form of power and wealth.

Politics as DECEPTION or DIPLOMACY?
One may ask: is politics merely deception? Not entirely. Politics is also Diplomacy, the art of managing conflicting interests without descending into chaos. Yet the line between DIPLOMACY and DECEPTION is thin.

Philosopher Hannah Arendt, in her book Truth and Politics (1967), wrote: “No one has ever doubted that truth and politics are on rather bad terms with each other.”

This tension is why politicians must shape-shift. To survive, they must speak the language their audience wants to hear, even if it contradicts what they said yesterday, survival does not always mean progress. A politics built on deception may buy short-term gains but risks long-term collapse.

The Global Stage: Politics Without Borders.
The Jacob story also reflects geopolitics. Nations, like individuals, tell different stories to different audiences.

Russia, for instance, presents itself domestically as a protector of traditional values, while abroad it claims to be resisting Western imperialism.

China promotes itself in Africa as a partner for development, but in the West, it markets itself as an emerging superpower advocating multipolarity.

The United States sells democracy abroad while tolerating political polarization at home.

The art is the same: one statue, many stories, hidden gold beneath.

When Politics Becomes Dangerous.
The danger of politics lies in its ability to manipulate people into believing what suits the political class, not society. In Jacob’s story, the customs officers in Moscow and Tel Aviv were both deceived. They allowed the statue to pass because each believed the narrative they wanted to hear.

This mirrors how citizens can be deceived. A politician promises jobs to the unemployed, subsidies to the poor, tax cuts to the rich and reforms to the international community. In reality, he carries only “GOLD” for himself.

George Orwell, in Politics and the English Language (1946), warned: “Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

In Nigeria, promises of stable electricity, reduced corruption and food security have been recycled for decades. Yet power outages remain constant, corruption thrives and food insecurity deepens. The stories change, the gold remains hidden.

Politics and the Citizen: How Do We Respond?

If politics is storytelling, then citizens must become critical listeners. Blindly accepting political narratives without scrutiny is what allows politicians to smuggle their gold. Democracy thrives only when citizens interrogate leaders’ words with facts.

Nelson Mandela once said: “A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy.”

The media, civil society and the people must force leaders to reconcile their different stories into one consistent truth. Otherwise, politics will remain a circus where one man plays three characters while the audience applauds without realizing the trick.

Final Analysis: Politics as the Art of Many Faces.
Politics is not merely about governance, laws or elections. It is about narratives; crafted, bent and reshaped for survival and advantage. Like Jacob with his LENIN STATUE, politicians tell different stories to different audiences while concealing their real treasure.

The challenge of our time is to DEMAND AUTHENTICITY. Politics may always involve some degree of persuasion, but persuasion must not become deception. Nations collapse when politics becomes only about stories without substance. As Abraham Lincoln wisely declared: “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

Jacob fooled customs officers with his statue. Politicians may fool citizens with their narratives. In the end, truth has a way of emerging and when it does, history judges harshly.

Politics is, indeed, the art of many face; but citizens must insist that at least one of those faces is honest.