A female member of the National Youth
Service Corps » (NYSC), who was posted
to serve in Bayelsa State, Loretta Okoro, is
currently undergoing a strange ailment
after the security dogs of her employers
attacked and mauled her.
According to the Punch Newspaper, the 28-
year-old Okoro who is still suffering as a result
of the attack, » has cried out for help from
kind-spirited Nigerians to get a better treatment
after the NYSC and the employer abandoned her
to her fate.
It was gathered that Okoro was bitten by the
three vicious security dogs in her employer’s
house where she was posted for her primary
assignment, on December 5, 2015, and since
then, help has not been forthcoming either from
the employer, Prof. Klem Imananah , or from the
authorities of the NYSC.
While narrating her plight, 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, because she had not
gone through proper medical treatment and that
her health had deteriorated.
“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.”
The indigene of Imo State has therefore
appealed to the Federal and State Governments
to wade into the matter so she could get back
to her feet.
When questioned, the employer, Prof. Imananah
who confirmed that Okoro was bitten by his
dogs, however, said he ensured that she was
treated until her injuries healed, adding that the
victim is only pretending and wants to extort
money from him.
He said he spent over N200,000 to take care of
Okoro while she was at the FMC in Yenogoa.
“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."