JUST IN: Ruth Ogunleye: Nigerian Army Arrest Female Soldier Over Sexual Harassment Allegations From Senior Officers—According to Sahara reports, Ruth Ogunleye, a female soldier in the Nigerian Army who recently complained in a viral video about sexual harassment in the military has been arrested and taken to Abuja.
The Genius Media Nigeria gathered that the Ogunleye 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 (Ogunleye) was flown out accompanied by military police in mufti from Lagos to Abuja,” a top military source told SaharaReporters.
Ogunleye, a Lagos female soldier, claimed in the viral video that certain top army commanders were threatening her life for rejecting their sexual passes.
Ogunleye complained that senior army commanders, whom she described as Col. I.B. Abdulkareem, Col. G.S. Ogor, and Brig. Gen. I.B. Solebo, had been tormenting her since she was assigned to Cantonment Medical Centre, Ojo, Lagos, in 2022, for denying sexual approaches.
She claimed she had been locked up multiple times for no cause, evicted from her flat, and placed in a psychiatric hospital for a month without medication due to a false claim that she had a mental disease.
According to her, her bank account has been frozen since February 2023, and she has not been paid for no apparent reason.
Ogunleye further claimed that Col. Abdulkareem had attempted to rape her on several occasions.
According to Ogunleye, the army commander later claimed she had a mental disorder and that she had made various attempts, including drafting a petition and persuading several senior and junior officials to intercede, but all to no avail.
Ogunleye further claimed that Col. Abdulkareem had denied her access to all army courses and visas to see her parents. According to her, her father called Col. Abdulkareem about her concerns, but he reportedly urged her father to inform her to obey the last instruction.
Ogunleye said, “I know they will definitely come for me. They will lock me up, and they will dismiss me, but I don’t care. I can’t endure it again. Before coming out to make this video, I couldn’t endure it again. I don’t want to die young.
“If anything should happen to me, please hold Col. I.B. Abdulkareem, Col. G.S. Ogor, and Brig. Gen. I.B. 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, Ojo, where I met Col. I.B. 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 and sent some boys to my house. I have all the evidence, and I have witnesses. 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, saying that I have a mental illness. He would always tell them that I had a mental illness.
“He wrote to DOA three times to board me out of the army. He froze my account for one year. He has frozen my account since February last year (2023) and, to date, has not paid any 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, and junior officers intervene, but none of them is giving me a listening ear. Any time anyone tries to intervene, he will tell them that I have a mental illness.
“There was a day he locked me; he almost raped me, and when they caught him, he said I have a 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. Of course, I have been given admission to a medical school, but he has 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 coursemates. I don’t know what I have done to them. Till today, I haven’t collected my salary. I can’t endure this again. Let the worst happen.”
