After almost been raped in a Zanzibar hotel, Holidaymaker breaks silence a year later

A female Nigerian tourist in Zanzibar has broken her silence on how she was almost raped on her birthday at a resort in April 2021.

Zainab Oladehinde, 24, took to Twitter to reveal how an unidentified man snuck into her bed in the middle of the night and tried to rape her.

She managed to flee after she begged her would-be attacker to go and get a condom after telling him she was HIV positive.

A year later, Oladehinde said the experience, "has been the most painful and traumatic experience of my entire life".

And she can now freely talk about it after undergoing therapy.

In the dark, half asleep, she felt a hand touch her breast, and upon realising there was a man in her bed forcing himself on her who kept saying "baby, baby" a lot went through her mind. At worst, she was going to be raped and killed and her fears were real as the man started strangling her so that she could not scream.

When she managed to escape after realising her room at the 4.5-star Warere Beach Hotel had no phone, she ran to the reception area where she found no one.

She ended up getting into a room belonging to a Russian couple she had met earlier and she spent the night there.

Responding to her revelation, the Government of Zanzibar said it was a regrettable incident.

"The Zanzibar Commission for Tourism is shocked and disappointed to learn of the incident and takes these allegations seriously. An immediate investigation has commenced and we will report of its findings," Hafsa Mbamba, the commission's executive secretary said.

In a statement, the hotel said Oladehinde reported the matter and her statement was taken by the police and an employee from a security company contracted to provide security at the hotel was apprehended.

However, in his account, he claimed he had been invited to the room for sex by the complainant.

The hotel added it decided to be open about the issue because its website had been hacked and had been receiving bad reviews on the internet.

"Our Warere website was hacked, today 16 April 2022. Simultaneously, we were inundated by a massive release of defamatory reviews and messages through many different social media platforms regarding accusations of sexual assault at our property. 

"Within three hours, we received over 4 000 negative reviews on Google from people who had never stayed at our hotel," it said in a statement.

Source: News24