Everywhere was calm and peaceful, as Nigerians online and offline waited in anticipation for the commencement of the 2023 AFCON, until a female soldier in the Nigerian Army, Ruth Ogunleye, brought forth serious accusations against three senior officers.
Ruth Ogunleye is accusing her senior officers of harassment, intimidation, and threats to her life.
Thank God for social media, despite its own lapses and disadvantages, but at least, it has become a major tool for many to speak up.
Ogunleye knew this, hence, she wasted no time hopping on her TikTok account to share a video where she detailed her experiences.
How It Started
In the video, Ogunleye claims that her ordeal began after being posted to the Cantonment Medical Centre in Ojo, Lagos.
There, she encountered a colonel who allegedly made unwanted sexual advances towards her.
According to her, upon her rejection of these advances, the colonel resorted to threats of dismissal from the army.
He even obstructed her opportunities for promotion courses, and refused her requests for army passes.
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The situation escalated, according to Ogunleye, when the colonel allegedly forcefully evicted her from her apartment and had her confined in a psychiatric hospital.
These allegations point to a severe abuse of power and position within the military ranks.
The Nightmare
In the video, she said: “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 eject me from my apartment and 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 stigmatised me that I have a mental illness.
“Each time I try to expose him, or any senior officer tries to intervene, he will tell them I have a mental illness.
“There was a day he locked me up and almost raped me. When they caught him, he said I had a mental illness.
The Last Order
“Anytime he feels like he wants to embarrass me, he asks some soldiers to beat me”.
She added that when her father tried to intervene, the senior officer told him to ask her daughter to obey the “last order”.
“What is the last order? To sleep with me.”
Ogunleye said she understood that the aftermath of her published video was her dismissal from the army. But she says she can no longer endure the treatment.
Reacting to the development, the Nigerian Army, in a post on X, said appropriate actions would be taken after concluding its investigation on the matter.
Hasty Judgments
The army asked the public to refrain from making hasty judgments and allow the investigative process to take its course.
The army said: “We assure the general public that the Nigerian Army 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”.
