SEXUAL HARASSMENT: CIVIL SOCIETY GROUPS DEMAND IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF FEMALE SOLDIER FROM DETENTION
Some Civil Society Organisations have faulted the decision of the Nigerian Army to illegally detain a female soldier, Corporal Ruth Ogunleye for speaking out against maltreatment and sexual harassment in the hands of her superior officers.
In a joint statement signed in Lagos on Tuesday by Olu Omotayo Esq., Civil Rights Realisation And Advancement Network (CRRAN) and Okechuwu Nwanguma, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Center (RULAAC) demanded the urgent and immediate release of Corporal Ruth Ogunleye.
They also observed that the female soldier exploited every recognized avenue to seek redress against the Army’s accusation that she failed to do so.
The victim, Ruth, had a couple of weeks ago, in a viral video on Tik Tok broadcast accused Colonel IB Abdulkareem, Col GS Ogor and Brig Gen IB Solebo of victimization and threatening to dismiss her from the force.
Particularly, she alleged that Col Abdulkareem sexually harassed her and threatened to inject her with an injection. In addition, the senior officer was said to have resorted to blackmail, stigmatization and threat to life by sending boys to her house in the barracks, an act she claimed to have evidence and witnesses.
In their demand, CRRAN and RULAAC not only demanded for Corporal Ruth Ogunleye immediate release called on the Attorney General of the Federation to rightly guide the Nigerian Army authorities by bringing to their attention the current and correct position of relevant applicable laws as enunciated by the court of Appeal and ensure the immediate release of the detained soldier and investigate the substance of the complaint which is sexual harassment of the person of Corporal Ruth Ogunleye by the said senior officers.
“This matter cannot be swept under the carpet on technical grounds. The hallmark of democracy is the respect for the Rule of Law by all the organs and components of the Federation and we seek to explore all relevant means within the provisions of the law for the release of Corporal Ruth Ogunleye.
According to them, the victim was reported in the media to have been arrested by the Military Police and flown to Abuja, where she is currently being wrongfully detained without justification.
Sequel to the video broadcast by the female soldier, the Army Spokesman, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu had in a statement disclosed that the female soldier didn’t officially exhausted available channels to seek redress before going to the social media.
However, CRRAN and RULAAC faulted the position of Army spokesperson reminding him of the clear and unambiguous provisions of Sections 178 and 179 of the Armed Forces Act 1994, whose provisions guide officers and men of the Armed Forces on the procedure for making complaints respectively.
“We hereby state without equivocation that in view of the interpretation of Sections 178 and 179 of the Armed Forces Act 1994 and the combined decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of NWANKWO V. NIGERIA ARMY & ORS (2021) LPELR-56718(CA) at Pp. 22-26 paras. B-B), Corporal Ruth Ogunleye is entitled to lodge a complaint or seek remedy for whatever wrong she has suffered by other means available within the ambit of the Laws in force in Nigeria.
According to the Section 178 (1)
“(1) If an officer thinks himself wronged in any matter by a superior officer or authority and on application to his Commanding Officer does not obtain the redress to which he thinks he is entitled, he ‘MAY’ make a complaint with respect to that matter to the Forces Council.”
They argued therefore, that the female soldier under the law need not exhaust the channels provided under section 179 of the Armed Forces Act. The initial report to the appropriate authority where she is serving suffices.
They averred that a careful consideration of the above insight reveals the Army Authorities ignorance of the actual position of the law in view of the pronouncement of the Court of Appeal which is not only disheartening but shameful.
CRRAN and RULAAC further noted that Corporal Ogunleye, has not committed any offence known to the law to warrant her detention unlawfully. The said detention is in contravention of her Fundamental Human Rights as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. (Sections 33, 34, 35, 39, 40 and 42 CFRN 1999 As amended).
CRRAN and RULAAC reminded the Army authority that Human Rights are sacrosanct and must be respected irrespective of the profession of the citizens.
“There is no exception to the circumstance of Corporal Ogunleye and the fact that she is a member of the Armed Forces does not preclude her from exercising her rights especially where she has been made to suffer a violation and a wrong.
“We wish to state at this point that where there is a wrong, there must be remedy and she must not be made to suffer any further for seeking remedy and justice. She is thus entitled to urgent and immediate release from the Military police who have held her hostage under the guise of the Armed Forces.
Ruth, who claimed to be of the Medical Centre, Ojo Cantonment, in the viral video said, “I don’t want to die young. If anything happens to me, hold the officers responsible, especially Col Abdulkareem. They don’t want me to grow and don’t want my progress.
“There was a day she locked me up, injected and attempted to rape me and when he was almost caught, he said I was having mental illness and he took me to Psychiatric hospital and locked me there for one month without medication.
“He frozen my salary since February 2023 to date; denied her access to military courses. I got admission to medical college and hd refused to release me to attend.
“I can’t endure it again; let the worst happen and I don’t bloody care. I wrote a petition citing Section 179 of the Armed Forces Act 1993 as amended in line with the 1999 Constitution, nobody listened to her, nothing happened,” Ruth, the female soldier under the storm reiterated.
