By Rita Enemuru, Reporting
AN ex-female soldier, Private Ruth Ogunleye, says the Nigerian Army is after her life in a bid to cover up the serial sexual harassments meted on her by a senior officer, Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem.
Ex-Private Ruth made the cry during an Interview with African Independent Television (AIT) posted on X on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.
Private Ruth on AIT
In the interview, Ex-Private Ruth narrated her ordeals with Col. Abdulkareem who, according to her, repeatedly injected, harassed and raped her severally during her service at the Nigerian Army Medical Corps, Oojo, Lagos.
Col Abdulkareem
She descried how Col. Abdulkareem denied her pass, military courses, how he would handcuffed her, put her in a casket and confined her in a psychiatric hospital and took naked pictures of her because she refused to sleep with him.
These pictures, according to her, were sent to General I.B. Solebo and Colonel G.S. Ogor to no avail.
In the interview, she also debunked the claim made by the Nigerian Army, through the Director of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, that she was discharged on the basis of mental illness.
Major General Onyema Nwachukwu
She noted that the army did not discharge her but instead, she wrote a voluntary discharge letter on the directive of the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy who took interest in her case after she had lost hope.
She added that she left the Army on her own on the basis of inhumane treatment and that she is mentally okay contrary to what the Army claimed.
Private Ruth with Minister of Women Affairs
Furthermore, she mentioned how Major Gen. Nwachukwu called the Human Rights Brekete Office to steer clear of the case when she went there seeking justice.
She then called out the Army to show the medical records to back up the claim that she was mentally unstable.
She narrated thus: “I left the Army because of the inhumane treatment. The oppression is too much in the army.
“Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, is after my life. He has sent men to unalive me. The army are everywhere looking for ways to kill me.
“What happened yesterday was just a cooked up story. Just a planned work. Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem and I were in the same unit.
“He was my CO, Nigerian Army Medical Corps, Ojo Nigerian Army Cantonment Medical Center Ojo where he was my senior
“Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem asked me to sleep with him at Eagles Hotel at about 7:00p.m.
“He asked me to sleep with him which I refused. This happened on a Sunday, 27th February, 2022. It is a big offense in the army. I refused to sleep with him because he was superior.
“Since then, Col. Abdulkareem will inject me with injections, put me inside casket, popularly called body bag in the army.
“He would harass me, raped me and at the end of the day, he would throw me into psychiatric hospital to make it look as if what he is saying is true.
“The rape, assault and he putting me in a casket all happened in his office with uniform. Most times, he would instruct soldiers to pin me down while they give me injection.
“Most times, he would point gun at me, most times he would handcuff me, harass me sexually and take pictures of me and send to some senior officers to make it look as if I am actually mad.
“I tried my best to seek for redress. I went to legal service and went to the police to report him. He did that several times.
“He came to my house, send soldiers to my house to harass me. Sometimes he will inject me and rape me in his office.
“After raping me, he will take videos of me and send it to Gen. Brigadier General I.B. Solebo.
“As of that time, I was already complaining and seeking for intervention, begging some senior officers like Gen. C.G Musa.
“I told so many officers, I seek for redress but nothing was done because he was my senior. Nobody was ready to give me a listening ear, nobody believed me.
“After injecting me, he will strip me naked and throw me inside psychiatric hospital. There, General I.B. Solebo and Colonel G.S. Ogor will come there and will be taking pictures of me.
“He denied me access to military course just because I refused to sleep with him. He denied me pass, I could not even see my family for years. He denied me so many things in the army.
“After I exhausted going to legal service, going to military police to report and nothing was done, I went to social media to complain on the January 9th 2024 and the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy intervened and the Nigerian Army promised Nigerians that they are going to carry out an investigation which they did.
“During the investigation, they took me to National Hospital, they took me to NDLEA to check if I abused substance and for medical evaluation and the results turned out to be negative.
“The Minister of Women Affairs then requested that I write a voluntary letter which I did and she forwarded it to the Chief of Army Officer and the Officer approved it.
“The army did not discharge me. I wrote a discharge that I lost interest because it of the inhuman treatment.
“I am not mentally unstable, I am perfectly okay. That story was just a cooked up story.
“I was taken for medical evaluation and the results came out negative and the doctors told me that they couldn’t diagnose me.
“Thereafter, the army called me that they’ve approved my discharge. The Chief of Army Staff called me on his own and told me that I shouldn’t worry that I should just corporate with them that they are going to sought me out and pay me off.
“I served only five years with the army and I am not eligible for pension. Because they boarded me out, that was why I was qualified for pension.
“Before one can be boarded from the army, there are procedures.
“They will call you for interviews, they will call a psychiatrist to check your mental state.
“They will be a board set up for that process to know if the soldier is still fit to continue with the job. In my own case, nothing like that.
“So, they did that to compensate me because of what Abdulkareem did to me. I decided to leave the army on my own because my life was at stake and I lost interest in the job because there is a lot of malice in the job.
“In the army, juniors officers don’t have any right to speak even if a senior is misbehaving towards them, they don’t listen to their subordinate.
“During the investigation, I submitted my evidence to them and my eyewitnesses were there and they noted that what Abdulkareem did to me was very wrong.
“So, I’m still surprised that they came online and cooked up a story just to make me look as if I am mad person.
“After the investigation, I wrote a handwritten voluntary discharge letter that I am no longer interested in the job.
“They called me from pension board that I should come for pension and I was very surprised because I was not eligible for pension.
“When I got there, I realized that they gave me 50 percent disability that I am not mentally stable.
“I asked questions and told me that I was not going to sign the form because they were going to use it against me.
“Immediately they gave me the certificate, I sent it to my dad and the Minister of Women Affairs, my dad said they would use it against it which they did.
“Telling the whole world that they discharge me because I was mentally unstable.
“I left because of the inhumane treatment. The oppression is too much in the army.
“Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, is after my life send me to unalive me. The army are everywhere looking for ways to kill me.
“I came to Abuja few weeks ago to the Human Right Office Brekete Office to seek for justice for what Abu Kareem and the Army did to me.
“At the end of the day, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu instructed the Brekete Office to steer clear from the case.
“So, that is how they set up the whole thing. They came online to make it look as if I am mentally unstable.
“Some lawyers reached out to me yesterday and they told me they were interested in the case. I will see how to see them.
“I want justice. Before coming online to lay allegations on senior officers, I have evidence to back up my claim.
“So coming out yesterday to tell the world that I am mad is a lie. They should show the medical records to prove that I am mad.
“The first time he harassed me, I reported him. In the Nigerian Army Medical Corps, Col. Abdulkareem is among the most senior officers.
“He has connections and his course mates are the people holding positions in the medical core.
“So, if I report to this person, Col Abu Kareem will look for a way to block it off. I need at open investigation, I want justice.”
Stonix News reports that Ruth had, in January this year on her TikTok account, accused Col. Abdulkareem, Col. G.S Ogor, and Brig. Gen. I.B Solebo of making her life unbearable.
However, in an update about the matter at Army headquarters on Tuesday, the spokesman of the land forces, Major General Nwachukwu, said the allegations were false.
Nwachukwu had stressed that the conclusion Private Ruth Ogunleye has mental illness was arrived at after an exhaustive review of the facts, testimonies and evidence presented during the investigations carried out.
https://x.com/AIT_Online/status/1838990836605796587?t=6CMuk-sE6Z_Tt__5tMQQSw&s=09
What's your reaction?
