Outrage as female army officer alleges maltreatment by senior colleagues

…Army promises thorough investigation

BY ORIAKU IJELE

Deep anger seems to be running through the minds of many Nigerians, following a viral video by a female junior army officer, Ogunleye Ruth, who accused some of her senior colleagues of maltreating her in course of discharging her duties to the nation.

Ogunleye claims that her supervisors, Col. IB Abdulkareem, Col. GS Ogor, and Brig. Gen. IB Solebo, have made her life miserable.

She particularly holds Col. IB Abdulkareem personally responsible for the challenges she has been encountering in the Nigerian Army.

Sharing her misery via her handle @Ogunleyeruthsavage1 on TikTok, she recounted her upsetting experience in the military.

She alleged that Abdulkareem had repeatedly attempted to abuse her, administered injections against her will, forcibly removed her from her home, and imprisoned her in a psychiatric facility for several months. She also claimed that the officer prevented her job progress by rejecting her promotion opportunities because she refused his advances.

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According to her, “In 2022, I was posted to Cantonment Medical Centre, Ojo, where I met Col. IB Abdulkareem, who requested sex from me, and I refused. Ever since then, this man has been my nightmare in the Army, threatening to dismiss me each time.

“He comes to my room to inject me in my apartment. Send some boys to my house. If I’m lying, I have all the evidence. I have evidence against him, and I have witnesses.

“He also stigmatized me because I have a mental illness. Each time I try to expose him, or each time any senior person or any senior officer tries to intervene, he will tell them I have a mental illness.

“He froze my account for one year. February last year till date, no salary.”

“Anytime he feels like he wants to embarrass me, he asks some soldiers to beat me. After beating me up, they will inject me.

”He will ask one Funke Ayeni; she is a female soldier, and he will ask her to set me up. She will set me up, inject me, and they will go and throw me somewhere.

”At the end of the day, this Brig. Gen. IB Solebo and some of those senior colonels will come to that place; they will be videoing me,” she added.

Ogunleye said her father attempted to interfere with Col. IB Abdulkareem in order to bring her peace, but the officer told her father to relay the message to her to “obey the last command.”

She noted that the “last order” was for the colonel to “sleep with me.”

But cautious that this may bring the Nigerian Army to disrepute, its spokesperson, Major Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, swiftly rose to calm the frayed nerves of Nigerians who had taken to the social media to express their anger. In a press release, Gen Nwachukwu assured that NA would investigate the matter thoroughly. His statement reads: “The Nigerian Army (NA) has been inundated with audiovisuals making the rounds on social media of the unprofessional conduct of a female soldier in mufti, who claimed to have been maltreated by some senior officers. It is instructive to state that considering the gravity of the allegations, NA as a disciplined force will conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.

“It is crucial to point out that contrary to the claims made in the video, the soldier in question has not exhausted the laid down procedure for seeking redress in the NA. This is aside Human Rights and Gender Desks established in Army Headquarters and across NA formations, where complaints about human rights and gender issues are also entertained. The NA remains a professional force that self regulates and conducts its activities in adherence to established rules and ethics, while upholding the highest standards of discipline amongst personnel. We therefore encourage all personnel to always utilize the established channels for addressing grievances and concerns as a member of a noble and disciplined force.

“We assure the general public that the NA as an institution is committed to upholding the integrity and morals of its personnel and as such appropriate actions will be taken based on the findings of the investigation.

“We urge the public to allow the investigative process to take its course and refrain from making hasty judgments. The NA remains dedicated to serving our nation with honor and integrity.”