Ruth Ogunleye, a female soldier, in the Nigerian Army who recently complained about sexual harassment in the military has been nabbed and transfered to the Federal Capital Territory.
The soldier was flown to Abuja from Lagos on Tuesday morning.
“The lady who complained in the viral video about sexual harassment in the military has been arrested and moved to Abuja by air this morning. She was flown out accompanied by military police in mufti from Lagos to Abuja,” a top military source told to Sahara Reporters.
The soldier serving in Lagos State, raised the alarm in the viral video that some senior army officers were threatening her life for rejecting their sexual advances.
She lamented how the senior army officers – who she identified as Col. I.B. Abdulkareem, Col. G.S. Ogor and Brig. Gen. I.B. 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 had been locked up several times for no reason, ejected from her apartment, and put in a psychiatric hospital for a month without any medication based on a false claim that she had a mental illness.
Her bank account, she added, had been frozen since February 2023 and she had not been paid salary for no reason.
Ogunleye further alleged that Col. Abdulkareem had attempted to rape her on multiple occasions. The female soldier said the army officer later claimed that she had a mental illness, adding that she had made several efforts including writing a petition and getting some senior and junior officers to intervene but that all was to no avail.
She also said that Col. Abdulkareem had denied her access to every army course and passes to see her parents. According to her, her father contacted Col. Abdulkareem over her issues, but he (Abdulkareem) reportedly told her father to inform her to obey the last order.
“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 evidence. I have evidence against him and I have witnesses.
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“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,” she narrated.
While appealing to Nigerians for support, she acknowledged the potential consequences of her actions, anticipating a possible arrest.
She claimed the officer told her father to relay the message to her to “Obey the last command.”
She said the “last order” was for the colonel to “sleep with me.”
The Nigerian Army has promised to investigate Ogunleye’s allegations.
The Director of Army Public Relations, Maj. Gen. Nwachukwu Onyema said the investigation was to ascertain the extent of her claims.
Onyema also slammed the female soldier, adding that she did not seek redress according to the laid-down procedure.
“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 said.
“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,” he added.
