The management of Warere Beach Hotel in Zanzibar, Tanzania has reacted to claims made by Nigerian tourist, Zainab Oladeinde, that she was robbed and almost raped while on vacation at the beach last year, IGBERETV reports.
Zainab in a Twitter thread posted on Saturday said she arrived in Zanzibar on Saturday, April 16, 2021, for her birthday celebration on April 18. Zainab, who traveled alone, alleged that in the wee hours of April 18, an unidentified man snuck into her room and tried to rape her. She said over $1000 was also stolen from her. Ms Zainab also alleged that the Zanzibar authorities did next to nothing to help her as they accused her of lying.
In a statement released on Sunday 17th April, 2022, the management of the hotel said when the incident happened, it filed a report before the police. The management says the police report indicated that Miss Zainab’s case was a personal one and was not a result of negligence on the part of the hotel.
Read the statement below:
“We are saddened that we must post this.
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 3 hours we received over 4,000 negative reviews on Google from people who had never stayed at our hotel.
As a woman-owned and operated business, the Warere takes guest safety and the safety of single women travelers extremely seriously, as evidenced by 6 years of verified positive reviews from women all over the world.
We tried our best to support Ms Zainab Oladehinde as soon as we learned of the accusations. We immediately brought her to the police and offered her support. The case was brought before Government authorities in April 2021 when it occurred. The police report indicated that this was a personal case, and not negligence on the part of the Warere.
After passing by the Zanzibar Nungwi police, the District Commissioners Office, the Regional Commissioners Office and the office of the Second Vice President of the govt of Zanzibar, Ms. Zainab declined to take the case further. Ms Zainab Oladehinde was informed that the hotel would abide by damages rewarded by the court system of Zanzibar.
We will continue to serve our guests from all corners of the world with the same level of hospitality and excellence that we have become known for throughout Zanzibar over the past six years.”
The Zanzibar Commission of Tourism also released a statement regretting the unfortunate incident and that an investigation has since been launched.