By Erasmus Ikhide
A perfect storm is brewing over the desolate Nigerian Military Industrial-Complex (MIC) that has remained constant in the news for the wrong reasons. The misogynistic military has been roped once again for forcing out junior female officers in rape incidences. There are several cases of rape and sexual abuse that have been scuffled under the deepest cult of the military’s oath of secrecy.
The most recent is the allegation from Miss Ruth Ogunleye, who hastened out of the military conclave in resignation that Col. IB Abdulkareem had raped, put her in body bag and denied her legitimate benefits of the service. In January 2024, Miss Ruth, alleged on her TikTok page via @Ogunleyeruthsavage1, accused Col. IB Abdulkareem, Col. G.S. Ogor, and Brig. Gen. I.B. Solebo of making her life unbearable and confining her in a psychiatric hospital for several months because she turned down Abdulkareem’s sexual advances.
In a latest interview with Africa Independent Television (AIT), Miss Ruth pointed accusing fingers at the army spokesman, Major-General Onyema Nwachukwu, for marking her out for elimination after her appearance on the Brekete radio program in Abuja a few days ago. If Miss Ruth is to be believed — then Major-General Onyema and the Nigeria Army should better direct such threats to Boko Haram militias who have carved out a territory for themselves in the North East — instead of shackling hapless former female officers.
While the military is pawning off female officers as objects of sexual fascination, thousands of people are being killed daily in Northern Nigeria, especially in Maiduguri, as a result of Boko Haram’s ruthless decimation of the military. Good citizens are even astonished that apprehended terrorists who went through rehabilitation and were sent back to the same community have, more than ever before, become deadlier for lack of durable military tactics and solutions to terrorism. It is curious that in a nation where Boko Haram is touted to have been technically defeated, farmers still seek clearance from the military before going to their farm.
Besides, it’s tragic that the government that has been gloating and enabling terrorism in Nigeria has ignored the calls to apply six-pronged solutions to tame the scourge. That’s why, 15 years into the counter-insurgency operation, we are not seeing major successes. The endemic poverty in parts of the Northern region, as well as the insurgents’ violent methods, enable the continued recruitment of generation after generation of fighters by several militia groups.
The Nigerian Army’s handling of Private Ruth Ogunleye’s case has raised serious concerns about the treatment of female soldiers who accuse senior officers of sexual abuse. While the Army said Ruth Ogunleye was discharged from the service on medical grounds, Ruth told the world that she earlier sent a handwritten letter of withdrawal from the service after accusing Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem of random sexual abuses.
The Army claims that Abdulkareem was cleared of any wrongdoing, but Ogunleye disputes this, stating that she was never invited to testify before any investigative panel to prove her sanity. This case bears a disturbing resemblance to others involving female soldiers who have accused senior officers of sexual abuse. For instance, Beauty Uzezi, a 19-year-old airwoman, was forced out of the Nigerian Air Force on medical grounds after alleging she was drugged, tortured, and raped by an officer.
Despite the fact that a human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Femi Falana secured a $200,000 judgment for her through the ECOWAS Court, the accused officer was never sanctioned. Another female soldier, Lance Corporal Philomena Nnamoko, attached to Ilese Sappers Barracks, Division 2, Nigerian Army, Ogun State, had also alleged that her senior colleagues beat her up and sent her to the Yaba Psychiatric Hospital on account of her refusal to give in to their sexual advances.
The present Chief of the Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, should, as a matter of urgency, come clean on the exploited soldier’s claims that she once told him about the vicious rapes and sexual abuses to which she has been subjected. Rather than take action, Ruth said he advised her to endure the pillaging of her humanity from beastly superior officers. That clarification is needed by General Musa, whom many have described as the intrepid tribune of the modern Nigerian Army. The Army shouldn’t always follow a clear escalation formula of self-indulgence. Withstanding growing pressure to name and shame black legs in the Nigeria Army is in the enlightened self-interest of the revered institution as a mark of metric for sanctity.
This is one of the biggest elephants in the military’s room. Even in primitive caves, where people balk and bristle, there are humane moments of self evaluation, introspection, and moments of truth for self-sufficiency. This, undoubtedly, would make a radical and revolutionary impact on the post-colonial military era — as the military transits to modernity, most importantly — for the military to exert her full dominion on the turbulent nation, it needs to demonstrate the capacity for self re-engineering.
Here is the conundrum: will Nigerians allow the venerated military to push itself down the slope? Are we going to allow the military to make a throne of bayonets for itself? Can the Nigerian military exalt itself over and above citizens’ rights on grounds of misguided national security while the people are subjected to pain and misery? Is it possible for the senior military officers to keep their female folks down without staying with them in the ditch, even in militaristic countries? The military should be concerned that the entire Northern Nigeria has virtually succumbed to banditry on an industrial scale as well as numerous local insurgencies across the country.
The military should be providing solutions to the regular bloodletting traceable to contending local factions and seething internal contradictions that have turned the eastern part of the country into a war zone. The military should be troubled about her servicemen’s misfortune and disenchanted female officers who are bent on fighting bad eggs in the institution, despite the activities of those who are unleashing campaigns of vicious and active sabotage against the institution.
This certainly would bring solace and succor to the injured and serially violated junior officers who have been put through the guillotine. Because in a fractured multi-ethnic military roiling in mutual hate and distrust, military amity is compulsory to bridge the yawning chasm created by hierarchical subjugation.
Speaking plainly, these cases suggest a pattern of the Nigerian military labeling female soldiers who accuse senior officers of sexual harassment as having medical issues. President Bola Tinubu should intervene and prevent the military from investigating itself in such cases, instead handing them over to the police for investigation. The Nigerian military’s actions have severe consequences for the women involved, including stigma, loss of livelihood, and denial of justice. It’s crucial to ensure that these women receive fair treatment, as well as holding perpetrators to account.
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