Calabar Chic: I was raped at 14, kidnapped in 2018

Stephanie Naya Isuma, the comedienne better known as Calabar Chic, says she was sexually assaulted at the age of 14.

In a recent interview with Chude Jideonwo, Calabar Chic said the incident happened when she was returning from church.

She said the assault affected her relationship with God, adding that she stopped attending church for seventeen years.

Calabar Chic said comedy became a “form of healing and escape” away from her problems.

“I had a really tough time growing up and I have been running away from my problems my whole life,” she said.

“So comedy was just an escape. At some point, it became a form of healing. I do these things to make people laugh but I do it for myself. When I make people laugh, it makes me happy.

“Growing up as a 14-year-old, I was sexually assaulted, brutalised, beaten and the guy had his way with me. I was just a teenager and I was returning from church the evening this happened.

“My relationship with God just went down and I did not attend church for seventeen years.”

The comedienne also revealed that she was once kidnapped and asked to pay the sum of N50 million to save her life.

“I was kidnapped in 2018 by Fulani herdsmen. I was driving with a friend and when we got to Benin Bypass, these guys just blocked the road and started shooting in the air,” she said.

“They took us into the bush and left us till the next day. Then they told us they were kidnappers and we had to pay N50 million ransom or they would kill us. They had us for five days.

“The guy that I traveled with, they slashed him with a dagger. I prayed to God that if he got me out of there, I would go back to church. They freed us after we paid the ransom.”