A female National Youth Service Corps member has taken the fight to her employer for allegedly assaulting her and plagiarising her work.
Mary Agbo, 28 has waited for over a month for the first signs of justice for an wrong she says no woman should ever have to face – violence against women in the workplace.

On August 1, 2012, Agbo began her NYSC primary duty with the Garki Gazette, an Abuja-based weekly lifestyle and events publication, located within the premises of Eddy-Vic Hotels on Ahmadu Bello Way, Garki II, Abuja. By August 17, Emmanuel Abanah, the magazine’s publisher and owner of Eddy-Vic Hotels confirmed her as the Editor of the publication “having satisfied preliminary conditions for the job”, he wrote in her letter of engagement.

But on November 1, she filed a complaint at the Garki Police station against Abanah, 35, for allegedly assaulting her after she requested a Performance Certificate, the necessary documentation corps members must obtain from their employers monthly, and mandatorily submit to the NYSC to be entitled to their government allowance. She reported the assault to the NYSC on the same day and asked to be reposted from Garki Gazette citing fear for her life and an unsafe work conditions.

“He slapped me and pushed me, I hit my ear hard on an iron fence by his garden. He started dragging my top (white NYSC vest) and my breast came out,” Agbo told the Police. “He brought out his hand again and slapped me. He called his manager and assistant to send me out of the premises which they did”.

Agbo explained the events of November 1. In the morning while attending her Community Development group meeting, she was advised to submit her PC the same day as NYSC officials would be busy with the new batch of corps members resuming the following week. Back at the office which was locked, both Ada, Abanah’s assistant, and Sharks, the magazine’s production manager advised she call the publisher. After several unanswered calls and an SMS, Abanah alighted from his hotel room rude and shouting at her for disturbing him. As she tried explaining herself, he began beating her in anger, Agbo said.

A medical report from the Asokoro General Hospital signed by Dr. C.N Okoli stated Agbo “presented with generalized body pain, headache, earache, dizziness, and tinge of blood in the right eye”.

The Garki Police went to Abanah’s office that same day, but met his absence. It however became clear he had gone into hiding after he failed to turn up following several other visits to his office and calls inviting him to the station. A warrant for his arrest was subsequently obtained.

Two reasons are at the root of the assault, Agbo says. She had severally asked Abanah to pay her salary and that of the magazine’s contributing journalists being owed months in arrears. This displeased him tremendously. Also, her refusal to concede to her employer’s sexual advances irked him further, she said.

The NYSC at a zonal level launched an investigation. A source within the NYSC who asked not to be named provided the internal report with the findings from the investigation. Though Abanah had refused to see the investigating officer, staff of Garki Gazette and Eddy-Vic Hotels confided “he [Abanah] has been treating them the same that he pays them salary whenever he feels like and they do not have the right to ask him”.

“Based on the information about this man, shows that he is a very irresponsible man,” The NYSC investigating officer reported. “I advise that the corper should be withdrawn from serving in this establishment and be reposted, and all possible measures should be taken to make him for his reactions. He has no right to treat her this way.”

Abanah on his own then petitioned the NYSC State Coordinator on November 12 accusing Agbo in a four-page letter of “poor parental upbringing” and being “desperate, devious, and dubious and a calculated and cold liar that thinks everybody wants to flirt with her”. He added he has no regards for the Garki Police station and was therefore taking his case against Agbo to the Commissioner of Police of the Federal Capital Territory.

“The publisher did not want a heehaw affair with a desperate woman whom he has been feeding in a local police station,” Abanah said.
“Miss Agbo has been given a fair option of proceeding to a court of law with her claims, but will not be granted the excessiveness of a shouting match with her employer at a local police station.”

Abanah in a calculated move petitioned the Commissioner of Police of the Federal Capital Territory. But contrary to what he told the NYSC, he claimed Agbo was using police officers from the Garki Police station to threaten him. He asked the case be transferred to the FCT Police command, apparently to avoid being charged to court. On November 30, Agbo was invited as an accused to make her report. She was detained and only released after her sister stood bail for her.

By December 3, when the FCT Police Command was presented with Abanah’s subsisting arrest warrant from the Garki Police station, and it was also discovered the contradicting motives Abanah had declared in his letters to the Police, and the NYSC for refusing to honour the Police invitation, he was arrested with the Garki Police Station taking him into their custody.

Speaking to Abanah while in detention behind the Police counter, he said a recent case of murder in his hotel involving an alleged prostitute in October and his unwillingness to continually bribe officers of the Garki Police station led him to refuse to honour their respective invitations. Abanah denied assaulting Agbo, but claimed she was out to tarnish his image. He described Agbo as erratic and unproductive who for three weeks failed to come to work for no apparent reason only to resurface asking him to sign her NYSC Performance Certificate.

Abanah’s staff when questioned separately however debunked his claims, instead stating Abanah had failed to provide a conducive work space for them. A visit to Garki Gazette premises revealed the only furnished office is Abanah’s office, which doubles as his office as Eddy-Vic Hotels managing director, located on the ground floor of the hotel facing the main entrance. Another space for staff remains under construction.

To further puncture his claims, Agbo, the former sub-editor of the Charly Boy magazine, provided evidence of the eight editions she oversaw as editor of the Garki Gazette, with her by-line and image featured on the editorial page.

Agbo also accuses Abanah of plagiarism. Despite not giving her a termination letter, he removed her by-line from the magazine’s 54th issue which was her ninth edition which she said she wrote 16 out of 32 pages and edited before its publication 3rd-9th November 2012. A copy of the said publication reveals Abanah replaced Agbo’s name as editor with Kaila Budango, his pen name. He removed Agbo’s image from the editorial page, but published her remarks “word for word”, passing it off as his own, she said.

Late in the evening of December 3, the Police in Garki ushered a visibly humbled Abanah into a police cell after asking him to UnCloth and declare all his belongings on him. He spent the night and was charged to court on December 4th 2012 for resisting Police arrest.

Abanah’s friends, since his arrest, have been pleading with Agbo and her family to let peace reign and withdraw her case currently with the FCT Police Command. Agbo said she has to consult with her lawyer and rights groups which took up her case before taking a decision. She however underscored conditions Abanah must meet.

“One he has to write back to NYSC to retract the lies he wrote about me. Two, he has to write an undertaking nothing will happen to me because he knows where I live,” Agbo said. “And since my contract is not terminated, he must pay my arrears and that of other staff he owes their salary.”

http://saharareporters.com/report/assaulted-her-employer-female-youth-corps-member-fights-back

I never new Abanah did all these.

Those Boss, na so them go dey do like demi-gods, if yawa come gas, them go start to beg.

If this report is true, then the gender equality NGO have a job on there hands...
And i also thought NYSC said they have a strict policy of posting Corpers to Private firms.. The girl herself must have grease lots of palm to end up there..

I refuse to comment

Yawa don gAs ooo

speechless

Hit like if u dnt read dis completly

If dis is true o,den agbo shld go ahead suing abanah to court......

(Whispering) hmmm.... I'm sensing a romantic relationship between the publisher and the corper gone sour.

speechless

if the girl can substantiate her claims, i'l advise she should press charges, sue that retard, and run him outta business.
That guy has no ethics. Did any1 read d part that he OWED his staff several months salary!

People with low self-worth, oftentimes, try to drag others down to their pathetic levels using various vices.

Anyways, let's talk about Jesus.

He advices us to do unto others what we want done to us (either directly or indirectly to our children).

Sunymoore: Hit like if u dnt read dis complete

its high tyme we teach sm men a leson in ds con3.women re nt slaves bt should be reportd.although dm get bad mouth sha

Pple don't judge the man..He might be right..you know how rude n saucy our naija girls can be..she must av done something bad for getting discipline
Ova n out

Lol

Brilliant ! My kind of girl. This is a David Vs Goliath case. We know who won in the end because no one ever wins a battle against God. God will give her victory . Amen

Sunymoore: Hit like if u dnt read dis complete

i didnt even read at all, just scrolled down to read people's comments.

the story looks cool for a nollywood movie....titled ' i get mouth pass my boss'

Talk about cutting him down to size. So after all his pride and thinking he could bully her, he is now reduced to sending friends and family members to beg her.

topsyking: Pple don't judge the man..He might be right..you know how rude n saucy our naija girls can be..she must av done something bad for getting discipline
Ova n out

SMH for you, so if someone is rude at the work place the right thing to do is to beat her up abi! What happened to giving her a written warning and terminating her appointment after repeated warnings. You think this is your village where you can just beat anyone you feel like?

Judge me not, so that you must not be judge.I rest my case.

The fact that mr abanah dont pay his employee their salary as at when due shows that he is irresponsible.i tink his staff nailed him during investigation,which shows that he is not treating them well.lesson learnt is be good to pple especially the ones around u.miss agbo free the useless man i beg

This story is not true. Just a jack-ass trying to make front page who succeeded. I said so for the following reasons:

1. "On August 1, 2012, Agbo began her NYSC primary duty with the Garki Gazette, an Abuja-based weekly lifestyle and events publication"

Starting from Batch A 2012 NYSC members, no corp member will be posted to any company or private sector. Posting of corp members shall be limited to four sectors: Agriculture, Education (teaching), Infrastructure, and *i'v 4gottn the last one*. And as we all know, 70% are sent to govt schls to teach, startin from batch A. So, who posted this so-called corper to a 'lifestyle and event' company?

2. "In the morning (of November 1) while attending her Community Development group meeting, she was advised to submit her PC thesame day as NYSC officials would be busy with the new batch of corp members resuming the following week"

Batch C corp members left camp on November 27th, and resumed on December 3rd. Meanwhile, the story says that NYSC officials would be busy with corp members resuming the following week (beginning on the 5th on November). I didn't have the time to go through the whole story, I would have brought out more points to show that this 1di0t just wants to make front page. Un4tunately, he/she succeeded!

see him soundin lik he wasnt Born and bred by a naija woman.naija gurls are respectful and stop all dis silly negative talks cos u are completely out of point.is being beaten d appropriate judgemnt to a lady even wen she is saucy.some guys are just so mean.SMH

topsyking: Pple don't judge the man..He might be right..you know how rude n saucy our naija girls can be..she must av done something bad for getting discipline
Ova n out

What a case,I wish am a lawyer alredy. I tink deres no goin back in dis case cosidering de numerous charges against him.this type of case shud be allowed to go on I mean for oyinbo cuntry by jst raizin ur hand at sumone u hav comited assault nd battery.Dis wil serve as future warning to odas dependin on how it is handled in court...

Lawlessness is the order of the day in my father's land. If u can grease palm, the law enforcement agents will be under ur foot.
I SMH for all these big men that act as demi - gods.
Finally, to young corpers who believe they can runs their way to glory, I say, may God help you. Leaving things to fate sometimes pay. You runs ur service to Abuja, u runs ur PPA to big man company and when u things go sour, u runs ur way way out. I SMH for u too.

D man nid to teach d man some lesson, how i wish ds can happen to d man immediate sister.

i thought NYSC said they have a strict policy of posting Corpers to Private ORGS ONLY POSTINGS TO SCHOOLS, AGRICULTURE

Ña wa o