POLICE in Unguja North Area have insisted that Zanzibar is protected for vacationers and all different guests.
The Police Drive issued the assertion yesterday in response to sexual assault allegations being made by a Nigerian girl, Zainab Oladehinde, who claimed to have been sexually assaulted in Warere Lodge in Nungwi, Zanzibar.
Regional Police Commander (RPC) for North Unguja, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Martin Otieno, responding to the claims, mentioned Ms Oladehinde didn’t present enough proof that might assist in arrests and prosecution of offender(s).
ACP Otieno mentioned the Nigerian didn’t present cooperation with the officers in the midst of investigations when she first reported the incident.
“She as an alternative, wished the police to pressure the lodge the place she claims was sexually harassed to pay compensation of 10,000 US {dollars} to settle the matter,” mentioned ACP Otieno in an announcement.
Police suggested her to take the matter to court docket, in order that the legislation may take its trigger however she couldn’t take the recommendation and continued to complain.
“Nonetheless, her claims of sexual harassment and lacking money cash, amounting to 1,100 US {dollars}, had been filed to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), who additionally withheld the file due to inadequate proof,” the police mentioned.
The police additionally raised considerations over Zainab’s transfer to air her claims on a social community after one-year, insisting that she ought to have adopted correct channels and helped the authorities with the required proof to show her case.
The police advised that her social media claims had been tantamount to tarnishing the picture of Tanzania, and the tourism trade.
ACP Otieno insisted that Zanzibar stays protected for vacationers and different guests.
On Sunday, the Zanzibar Fee for Tourism mentioned it was investigating allegations by Ms Oladehinde.
“The fee is shocked and dissatisfied to be taught of this incident and take these allegations very significantly. A direct investigation has commenced and we’ll give findings. We condemn any hurt or menace to our guests to the peaceable Islands of Zanzibar,” the Fee’s Government Secretary, Ms Hafsa Mbamba, mentioned in an announcement issued yesterday.
Her assertion got here after Ms Oladehinde on Saturday made the allegation, saying the incident occured in 2021 when she visited Zanzibar for a trip on her birthday.
“This incident occurred a 12 months in the past in April of 2021 however I have not been in a position to discuss it as a result of I have been in remedy for a 12 months to heal from the psychological trauma as (a results of) this expertise,” she wrote.
Zainab says she travelled alone from Lagos, Nigeria to Zanzibar on April 15, 2021, for her twenty third birthday.
She alleges that whereas sleeping bare at night time she felt a person contact her.
She says they struggled as the person tried to forcefully have his approach together with her earlier than she satisfied him to go carry a condom, one thing the-would-be rapist obliged.
Ms Mbamba acknowledged that the Fee has been made conscious of an announcement made on social media by Ms Zainab Oladehinde, concerning an incident of assault.
“On behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Heritage, we wish to inform our guests that the ministry abhors any unwell remedy of any individuals on the Isles as that is neither the Zanzibari hospitality nor the remedy we would like our guests to expertise. It’s a regrettable incident and we’re following up carefully,” she assured.
In a associated growth, the Warere Seashore Lodge additionally reacted that the matter was reported to related authorities who categorised the case as private, and never the lodge’s negligence.
“We tried our greatest to help Ms Oladehinde as quickly as we discovered of the accusations. We instantly introduced her to the police and supplied her help,” Warere Lodge posted on Fb.
The lodge additionally faulted the aggrieved shopper for declining to take the case additional after pursuing quite a few avenues in her quest for justice.
“Ms Zainab declined to take the case additional. Ms Zainab Oladehinde was knowledgeable that the lodge would abide by damages awarded by the court docket system of Zanzibar,” the lodge added.
The lodge mentioned it was prepared to satisfy the compensation awarded to Zainab by the courts.