A female soldier in the Nigerian Army serving in Lagos State, who did not disclose her name, has been seen in a video raising the alarm over some senior army officers oppressing and posing threats to her life for rejecting their sexual advances.
The female soldier in the video lamented how the senior Army officers – who she identified as Col. IB Abdulkareem, Col. GS Ogor and Brig. Gen. IB Solebo – had been oppressing her since she was posted to Cantonment Medical Centre, Ojo, Lagos in 2022, for refusing their sexual advances.
According to her, she has been locked up several times for no reason, ejected from her apartment, locked up in a psychiatric hospital for a month without any medication with a claim that she has mental illness and her account frozen since February 2023 without salary for no reason.
She further alleged that Col. Abdulkareem had made some attempts to rape her but when he was found out, he claimed that she had mental illness, adding that she had made several efforts including writing a petition and getting some senior and junior officers to intervene but to no avail.
She also said that Col. Abdulkareem had denied her access to every army course, passes to see her parents and that when her father contacted Col. Abdulkareem over her issues, he (Abdulkareem) told her father to ask her to obey the last order.
She said, “I know definitely they will come for me. They will lock me up and they will dismiss me but I don’t care. I can’t endure again. Before coming out to make this video, I can’t endure again. I don’t want to die young.
“If anything should happen to me, please hold Col. IB Abdulkareem, Col. GS Ogor and Brig. Gen. IB Solebo responsible, because they don’t want me to grow. They don’t want my progress.
“In 2022, I was posted to Cantonment Medical Center, Ojor where I met Col. IB Abdulkareem, who requested for me and I refused. Ever since then, this man has been my nightmare in the army – threatening to dismiss me each time he sees me.
“He ejected me from my room, sent some boys to my house. I have all the evidence and I have witness. He came to my house to eject me.
“Each time I try to expose him or each time any senior officer tries to intervene, he also stigmatizes me, that I have mental illness. He would always tell them that I have mental illness.
“He wrote to DOA three times to board me out of the army. He froze my account for one year. He froze my account since February last year (2023) till date, no salary.
“I have cried to some senior officers. I wrote a petition using Section 179 of the Armed Forces Act. I have seen so many officers, senior officers, junior officers to intervene but none of them is giving me a listening ear. Any time anyone tries to intervene, he will tell them that I have mental illness.
“There was a day he locked me, he almost raped me and when they caught him, he said I have mental illness and he took me to a psychiatric hospital and locked me up there for one month without any medication.
“He has denied me access to military courses, meanwhile, they know very well that my progression in the army is determined by my course attendance. Now course, I have been given admission in a medical school but he refused to release me.
“There was a day I called my dad and my dad intervened but he told my dad to tell me to obey the last order. What is the last order? For him to sleep with me?
“He has denied me everything. I can’t even go on passes to see my parents. No pass, no leave for me. But please and please, if anything should happen to me, hold them responsible, especially Col. IB Abdulkareem, Col. GS Ogor and Brig. Gen. IB Solebo. They are my nightmare in the Army.
“They have done everything to tarnish my image because they are all course mates. I don’t know what I have done to them. Till today I haven’t collected salary. I can’t endure this again. Let the worst happen.”
SaharaReporters had on Friday reported that it had begun an investigation into alleged maltreatment.
The army in a release by Major-General Onyema Nwachukwu, the Director Army Public Relations, on Friday said the female soldier had yet to inform relevant bodies and institutions about her predicament before releasing a video.