The story below is the experience of a female who was assaulted by someone who is expected to be a respected person (carrying the title "C.E.O" should at least imply you are a reasonable and sane human being). Its actually sad, there are still men like these around.....
John Effiong
I walked past the gate and into her house opposite the Zimbabwe High Commission on Parakou Crescent, Abuja. As I headed towards my friend's room, a dark complexioned man who was later identified as John Effiong, the CEO of Coolcover, an Abuja-based company approached me.
He addressed me in an angry voice, “Hey you, come here!”
Surprised at his tone, I immediately answered, “Excuse me?” to which he further blurted “Can't you greet me?, “What are you looking for?”
Again I answered, “Excuse me?”
Then in a pitch even more loud – so loud I was left confused why he was in such furious mood – he said, “Who are you looking for?”
“My friend,” I answered.
Then he proceeded to pour out a barrage of invectives on me: “You are very rude! You can't say hi.”
I ignored him and walked on without uttering a word to him. I thought that would signify the end of the drama, but he followed me and started to shout at the top of his voice, “Get out of this house right now! I said get out of this house now!”
I had become furious at this point. “Is this your father’s house? Did I come to your door? Why do you ask me to leave the premises?” said back to him walking away from him to my friend's door. As I was about to enter, Mr. Effiong slapped me on my back. “You're mad, stupid girl!” he cursed and continued his name calling. I realized I was dealing with an irrational person and decided not to respond to his madness but he slapped me. Sensing danger at this point, I hurriedly moved away to avoid further assault.
This however did not deter Mr. Effiong who proceeded to call the security guard on me. “Look at this girl’s face,” he said to the security guard. “Don't ever allow her into this compound again.” I ignored him and entered my friend’s room.
Mine is just one story of the way some uncouth men assault women in Nigeria. As I shared my experience with some friends, it turned out that several of them have had a similar experience of being assaulted by men in Nigeria, but especially in the Abuja metropolis. In sharing this story, I hope that men who think it is right to unleash verbal or physical abuse on women would be called to order. It’s wrong to disrespect women. After numerous calls from journalists who heard my story, Mr. Effiong still refuses to see anything wrong in what he did. To this moment, he has refused to apologize for his deplorable and unprovoked assault on me.
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