Ruth Ogunleye, a female member of the Nigerian military, has come forward with grave accusations against her superiors.
She alleges that her life has been made unbearable by some senior officers, namely Col. IB Abdulkareem, Col. GS Ogor, and Brig. Gen. IB Solebo.
Ogunleye particularly holds Col. IB Abdulkareem accountable for the hardships she has endured in the Army.
Using the TikTok handle @Ogunleyeruthsavage1, she recently shared her harrowing experiences on the platform.
She claims that Abdulkareem repeatedly tried to assault her, administered injections against her will, forcibly evicted her from her residence, and confined her in a psychiatric hospital for several months.
Furthermore, she asserted that the officer hindered her career advancement by denying her promotion courses because she allegedly rejected his advances.
Describing her ordeal, she stated, “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.”
She continued, “He comes to my room to inject me in my apartment. Send some boys to my house. If I’m lying I have all evidence. I have evidence against him and I have witnesses.”
“He also stigmatised me that I have 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 colonel, they will come to that place, they will be videoing me.”
Ogunleye appealed to Nigerians for support, acknowledging the potential consequences of her actions and the possibility of being arrested.
She mentioned that her father had attempted to intervene with Col. IB Abdulkareem to bring her some relief. According to her, the officer told her father to relay the message to her to “Obey the last command.”
She revealed that the “last order” was for the colonel to “sleep with me.”
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army has pledged to investigate Ogunleye’s allegations. Maj. Gen. Nwachukwu Onyema, the Director of Army Public Relations, stated that the investigation aims to determine the validity of her claims.
Onyema also criticized the female soldier, mentioning that she did not follow the established procedure to seek redress.
He said, “The Nigerian Army 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,” he added.
“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 honour and integrity,” Onyema concluded.
This is the latest in reports of maltreatment by soldiers of the Nigerian army.
Inibehe Effiong, a public interest and human rights lawyer, recently filed a petition to the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja.
He requested that the Army personnel responsible for assaulting police officer ASP Edet Inyang be identified and held accountable for their actions, citing an incident where Inyang was tortured by a group of Army personnel near the Nigerian Army’s 63 Brigade in Asaba, Delta State, on December 9, 2023.
Similarly, in November 2023, the Adamawa State Police Command headquarters in Yola was allegedly invaded by the Nigerian Army, resulting in the killing of an inspector of police identified as Jacob Daniel.
President Bola Tinubu had issued a stern warning to the Nigerian Army in December, urging them to refrain from carrying out retaliatory assaults on the police or the civilian population over any provocation.