VAPP Act 2015 Section 3 [Short Stories] Owei, The Irrational Blogger

VAPP Act 2015 Section 3 [Short Stories] Owei, The Irrational Blogger

A short stories series on the Violence Against Persons Prohibition, VAPP Act 2015 Section 3. This story centres on coercion in the office space.

Read Also>>> VAPP Act 2015 Section 1

‘Madam… why humiliate me… like a common thief?’ Owei unenthusiastically asked Sheila.

He had been looking around as they came out of the hotel room unto the walkaway. Owei’s mind is filled with different thoughts, especially not to be seen with a handcuff in the public. One of the receptionists had been giving him a steady look, he immediately put his face down when his eyes made a contact with her as they wait for the automated glass door to open at the main entrance of the hotel.

‘This is not right and proper, I am a highly respected journalist and blogger’.

She didn’t bother to reply him or look at him. She walks straight to her car while the police took him to a waiting tinted van without a plate number.

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As a growing capital, many businesses were just springing up. Young men trying to find something to do with their skills in ICT. Digital marketing is now in vogue. I am a digital guru’ with promises ‘I will make you rich in 24 hours’. The near absences of industries is taking its toll on the people, so young men with laptops and android phones seized the opportunity of the digital era to make ends meet.

Young men starting owing blogs as social media influencers and bloggers with office spaces for their operations. Some serious minded ones, employed two or more persons to help in news gathering, writing and reporting.

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Whytee, is a native of Ogbia precisely Emayal; a 20-minute drive from the city capital, Yenagoa and shares boundaries with Otuoke, hometown of a former president of the country. She is fair and luscious with a nourished skin like the model on the label of the once famous ‘Coca Butter’ cream.

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Many doubted her place of birth but both parents are from the community. Her childhood is a blessing to her family. During a burial ceremony, a man dashed her N10,000.00 which was used by the family to resolve a debt her father owed because her dancing steps pleased him.
She got admitted to study Theatre Arts in the newly created University through a scholarship. It is the annual festival of masquerades in the community. She danced beautifully well alongside the masquerades to the admiration of a particular government official, who single handedly sponsored her university education.

Whytee’s dancing skills is known throughout the circumference of the community but she lacks interest in it. She graduated with a second class degree (Upper division) as best graduating students without much interest in dancing nor acting but writing.

As a student, she has written 10 plays and several published articles in newspapers with the help of a lecturer in the English department. He is a columnist in the state-owned newspaper. She is more pleased to be called a writer than an actor or dancer thus undermining her childhood hobby, dancing.

Barely three months after her graduation her benefactor lost her life in a bus accident alongside 11 others on Valentines’ day. They were on their way to the Garden City for a political event when their bus caught fire, it was a major tragedy in the history of the young state.
Whytee is a victim of this fatality even when she was not in the bus. It turned the course of life presenting to her ‘unfulfilled’ promises.

‘Ma, your undiluted interest in setting me on the path of greatness from my small village is a rare chemical reaction between us that cannot be solved. From my muddy abode you planted me in your magnificent castle.

‘You gave me a new world. New vistas to a chapter of ease to actualize my aspirations. Today, I am a graduate in the order of the ancient Greeks of Thespis, I am called a ‘Thespian’ with specialization in playwriting and dramatic criticism. I have greatly enjoyed an entirely new world in the last five years due to multiple strikes by the various unions’, a note of appreciation she has written to madam after a project defence.

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Owei met Whytee during a house party. It was madam’s birthday a year before she died. He liked her but for Whytee’s writing prowess. He works for a local newspaper that publishes whenever there is a major government event. His publisher draft newspaper advertorials congratulating the governor or his deputy during birthdays or any major state events. His primary clients are his friends holding public offices in government to make payment and he publishes the advertorial. The newspaper can be best described as a ceremonial local tabloid. After the publication, he goes asleep waiting for the next ceremony.

But this is not what Owei wants. Owei took a detour when he started his blog and social media pages a year after. He has learnt a bit about newspaper publishing and attended a school of journalism to be addressed as a journalist or ‘press’ within his environment. Owei enjoys the prestige that comes with that. He works as a media aide to madam. Whytee caught his attention, when she read a strikingly crafted birthday message while dramatizing her lines with her body during the birthday party.

After madam’s death and the rumours in town, he decided to build a niche for himself as an ‘investigative blogger’. He publishes scandalous and libelous articles about public officers. Most of them had landed him in troubles but he always finds a loose end to escape from the police.

He finds the need for a reporter for his blog as business is becoming better and his earnings from his site ranks in some 6-digit figures monthly. He didn’t look far, Whytee is just around the corner as her hopes of getting a civil service job as madam promised is nothing in sight.
He convinced her and she jumped at it. For her, it is not too far from Madam’s family since Owei is her younger brother and have been a close relative to her ever since she came to stay with Madam. He agrees to pay N80,000 per month. A figure that a graduate doesn’t earn in the civil service nor working for any established private business in the state.

Whytee gave her best, writing human angle stories around women and children. These stories, in less than six months, gave international exposure with opportunity of attending various workshops and training within and outside the state. The training helped her to understanding journalistic ethics and best practicing standards of fairness, justice and objectivity.

Although, Owei is more interesting in politics and the characters behind them. His stories created unknown and known enemies for him but he careless. These stories are not for the interest of the public but his selfish interest unlike his employee, Whytee. He wants a piece from the state treasury. He didn’t want to go the way of his former oga, who is down with stroke and left to his fate. He is tired of the 6-figure pay, he wants to enter into 9-digit payment system. Owei has a target and he needs Whytee to cooperate with him.

In just seven months of news blogging, Owei has spread his tentacle in most government offices and prominent individuals. At every point, he develops stories to both blackmail and extort money from them. Owei’s target is the commissioner of Education a very close to the governor. The ministry as part of the yearly budget is to install ICT learning facility in all secondary schools in the state. His source from the ministry has said the commissioner is using his private company to bid for the multimillion naire contract.

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Whytee is seated in her office, working on stories on the government’s demolition exercise on its urban renewal policy when Owei dashed inside her office and locked the door. He puts the key in his pockets and brings out a pocket knife and points it at her. Whytee’s fair complexion turned peeled. Her body shakes uncontrollably and agitated as he bangs her table, she stands up from her seat with her hands lifted her.

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‘Sir… what have I done?’

‘Too many that I don’t have time to recollect. But for this one, I will not spare you until you do what I ask of you’, he roared.

She becomes relaxed despite his roaring ‘but I need to be alive to do your bidding’ she said bringing down her hands and taking her seat in front of him.

‘Than, pick the phone now and call him for an appointment at the designated hotel’, he responded putting down the pocket knife. The light reflection on the pocket knife shines through her eyes like stars in the night.

‘From now, all your entitlement is reduced to 10%, that car you are not going home with it until you get my desired result’.

‘But sir…’

He stops her with a roaring voice ‘don’t sir me, again’.

She looks odd already, she had suffered a salary cut three months ago. Although the blog monthly earnings has tripled within the period. Owei’s outrage towards Whytee is causing her pains and heartaches. She has relocated from the accommodation he got for her to stay with a friend. This action in the office further heighten her state of mind.
When he first made the announcement of her salary cut, she dropped her resignation letter but he rejected it. When she absent herself from the office for three days, he called and asked her to see him. It was a brief meeting, but words ‘you don’t have a hiding place’ rings in her head.

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Sheila is a private lawyer with interest in criminal investigation and will not allow her friend to suffer in the hands of an irrational blogger. She had to step in and take up the matter to save her friend from this traumatic and psychological damage caused by Owei.

She told Whytee once; ‘do you know this is a criminal offence and we need to do the needful to get you off his hook’.
‘You lawyers, always have a name for everything. So, what’s the name of this offence?’

‘Coercion’

Whytee forced a smile and laughed.
‘I just need your cooperation to nail him. I already have my plans’, Whytee listens to her looking at her red lipstick sparkling out ‘don’t look at me like that, I am serious, I want to add him to profile in criminal investigation’.

Whytee breathed a sigh of relief knowing her friend’s pedigree. As a student she nailed a lecturer for sexual harassment with video evidence before the University’s Senate. She succeed to nail three cultists for physically inflicting injury on some female students on campus.

‘I plant some recording device in your office and Owei’s. I told some of my guys to mount surveillance around the office premises’, Sheila assured her. Whytee looked worried because she hated police wahala.

‘My dear, don’t worry, I am in this with you. Can’t put up like this with you any more, yesterday you wore your cloth inside out and while cooking the pot of rice got burnt’.

‘Sheila, am sorry’.

‘Babes, this guy is making you go through psychological trauma which is contrary to Section 3 of the Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act of 2015, this offence can land him a jail term of 3 years’.

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‘Hello, sir! Please, can we meet for the personality interview today’, Whytee said as she places the call on speaker by Owei’s order. So he had all the conversation.

Watch here audio-visual of the VAPP Act 2015 Section 3 

‘Yes, text the details’, the receiver responded.

Owei has wanted Whytee to seduce him as a commercial sex worker and he wants to use the pictures to extort money from him by threatening to expose his extra-marital affairs. Since all the army of documents released to him cannot find the politician wanting. The politician has debunked his many lies on the social media and gave detailed explanation of the ICT Contract awarded to a foreign company.

Unknown to Whytee, Owei has made alternate arrangement to get what he wants while Whytee and her friend, Sheila had their plans.

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It’s 6pm and the sun appeared differently when Caro arrived the hotel and took the key to the room where she will be having the interview. She had told the politician that she will be coming with her crew for the recording of the interview. She used the name of a popular television as bait.

At about 6.30pm, the commissioner arrived and makes inquiries from the receptionist before heading to the room. He was unbothered after the reasons she gave him to use the popular hotel for the interview as her television station is yet to set-up their studio in state capital. He was further convinced since he is not paying for anything. She had told him, the interview will center on ICT project that has been raising dust in the media.

Not too long, he settled in him, Owei knocked at the door and pretended to be a room service but Whytee is aware that it was him and she let him and didn’t bother to lock the door. Already, the camera has been set up to make the politician believe it is an interview session.

‘What are you waiting for?’ Owei asked giving Whytee some disturbing looks, the commissioner is lost and worried since he didn’t come with any of aides.

As he made attempt to bring out a pistol, Sheila stormed in with three policemen from the Force headquarters in Abuja. She had written a petition to the IGP’s office. Some officer from the office has been working closer with Sheila without Whytee’s knowledge not jeopardize the operations. The commissioner has also petitioned Owei over a publication he made damaging his public image recently, these are part of reasons he wanted to grant the interview with Whytee gave her name as Aisha Bello.

This story is written by Victor Oroyi to further popularize the content of VAPP Act 2015 Section 3. Do drop your comments on our Facebook page.