Female soldier Ruth Ogunleye calls out senior officers, alleges maltreatment over refusal of sexual advances

A female soldier Ruth Ogunleye has accused some senior officers of sexual harassment among other allegations.

Speaking out via TikTok with the handle @Ogunleyeruthsavage1, she named Col. IB Abdulkareem, Col. GS Ogor, and Brig. Gen. IB Solebo as those responsible for her travails in the Nigerian Army.

She claimed that Abdulkareem made repeated attempts to assault her, administered injections against her will, forcibly removed her from her residence, and confined her in a psychiatric hospital for several months.

Ogunleye added that the officer has hindered her career advancement by denying her promotion courses because she allegedly rejected his advances.

She said, “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.

“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 added.

Ogunleye appealed to Nigerians for support, noting that her father has tried to plead with Abdulkareem to let her be.

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.”

Reacting to this, spokesman of the army Maj. Gen. Nwachukwu Onyema said the case would be investigated.

Onyema also criticised Ogunleye, saying 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.