Governor Uduaghan's aide raped, matcheted by her Drivers - Say she was too hostile to her Staff.Suspects arrested.

…Her jeep taken away with 50 litres of fuel

From PAUL OSUYI, Asaba

A female top government functionary (names withheld) in Delta State had a close shave with death when she was attacked at her residence in DDPA area of Asaba, the state capital. The government's appointee was allegedly raped, battered and tortured into coma by a man believed to be her former driver and two other accomplices.

The suspects are now in police custody. Public Relations Officer of the state's police command, DSP Charles Muka, told Sunday Sun on phone that he was yet to be briefed on the incident. When our correspondent visited the victim's three-bedroom apartment, the place had been deserted. But a close source said she was still recuperating in an undisclosed hospital. According to sources, on the fateful day, the victim's driver had reported for duty as usual.

He was soon joined by his predecessor, who had earlier been "sacked by the madam". "Nobody suspected anything was going on inside the house because of the high fence. But at about 10 p.m., the two drivers drove out of the compound in the madam's jeep with 50 litres of fuel and never came back." Having regained concsiousness at about 4 a.m. she struggled and managed to get to her neighbour's gate to seek assistance. "When she knocked at the gate, I peeped through a small hole and found she was the one, I opened the gate and discovered she had matchet cuts all over her body.

It was at that point we raised an alarm and rushed her to hospital," our source added. According to the source, there were blood stains on the walls in the victim's apartment, adding that the blood on the floor had congealed. The source added: They broke her head, raped her and mutilated her body. The plot was to kill her, but God's intervention saved her."

However, following the incident, security operatives trailed the suspects to Abakiliki where they had gone to dispose of the vehicle and were subsequently arrested. A neighbour in the area told Sunday Sun that the attackers might have carried out the dastardly act as their own pound of flesh, describing the victim as too hostile to her domestic staff.

"Nobody stays here with her. She lives alone. Whenever the driver comes to pick her, he is not allowed to go into the house. He always hangs around the gate. Sometimes, he would sit on that stone and doze off. Her house girl too had to run away because of the way madam mal-treated her. There was a day she poured hot water on the girl because of early morning tea," said a neighbour who pleaded anonymity.