A National Youth Service Corps member in
Bayelsa State, Miss Loretta Okoro, has cried out for help over pains caused by
bites she sustained from her employer’s dogs.
Our correspondent gathered that 28-year-old
Okoro was bitten by security dogs in her employer’s house on December 5, 2015,
where she was posted for her primary assignment.
It was learnt that three dogs on the premises
of the employer, Prof. Klem Imananah, reportedly pounced on the corps member at
about 7pm on that day.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro on Tuesday, Okoro
lamented that her employer and the state chapter of the NYSC had abandoned her
to her fate.
She alleged that since the incident occurred,
she had not gone through proper medical treatment and that her health had
deteriorated.
Okoro, a member of Stream A, with NYSC number
NUA/2015/162926, said though the wounds had healed on the surface, she later
started suffering from hallucination, numbness, mental torture and
psychological imbalance.
Okoro, who said she was posted to the residence
of Imananah at Opolo in the Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state, accused
her employer of neglect.
She said, “On December 5, 2015, I was
attacked by three dogs owned by Prof. Imananah who I was attached to. The first
hospital I was taken to had no doctor to attend to me.
“I called a friend of mine who came to take
me to the Federal Medical Centre in Yenagoa. The injuries were cleaned every
day and I was given injections. I spent three weeks at the hospital and later
went home.
“The following day after being discharged, I
started feeling some strange ailment. I have been trying to be stable since
then. I can no longer sleep. I see strange and horrible things in my dreams. I
have been reaching out to the NYSC to know if they can be of help, but nothing
has happened till now. They claimed I am only pretending.
“Even the owner of the dogs has been
threatening me with court action, saying that I am embarrassing him.
“I have not been able to do anything. Things
have gone beyond my imagination. I have yet to get back to normal.”
Okoro, an indigene of Imo State, appealed to
the federal and state governments to wade into the matter.
She said the NYSC in the state had not given
her matter the attention it deserved, adding that since the incident occurred,
no one from the NYSC had called to know her condition.
Okoro’s colleague, who identified himself
only as Kingsley, said the victim’s health had worsened, adding that she needed
urgent medical attention.
Kingsley said, “It was unpleasant on Monday
evening. She was hallucinating and screaming throughout the night. I knew her
from the camp. But now, everything about her health has changed. NYSC is
supposed to protect corps members. But with what I have seen in the case of
Lorreta Okoro, we are just on our own. If something urgent is not done, Lorreta
may lose her life.”
The employer, Imananah, confirmed that Okoro
was bitten by his dogs but said he ensured the corps member was treated until
her injuries healed.
He said his dogs were free of rabies, adding
that Okoro would not be alive if she contracted rabies from the incident that
occurred since December.
He said, “The girl wants to extort money from
me. She thinks it is easy. If a dog bites you and the dog is normal, nothing
will happen to you.
“It takes only a few days for someone bitten
by rabies-infected dogs to die. What she is saying is total nonsense.”
Imananah said he spent about N200,000 at the
FMC to treat Okoro, adding that she was given full dosage of anti-rabies at the
hospital.
The state Coordinator of the NYSC, Mr.
Anthony Ekeocha, when contacted said he could not respond to the matter on the
telephone.
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