Some personnel of the Nigerian Army on Wednesday 27th of November 2024, allegedly assaulted a 19-year-old female student of the department of botany, University of Calabar and her mother at Jonathan Bypass, Akai-Efa, Calabar.
Narrating her ordeal to our correspondent on Saturday, the student, Everister Paul, said a female soldier identified as Sgt. Maria Okoi mobilized her colleagues to beat her up for spraying her hair and for responding to her (Maria Okoi’s) questions in good English.
“It happened at the checkpoint opposite the Catholic Church axis at Bypass. She called me and I crossed over to go and answer her. I greeted her ‘good evening ma.’ And she responded, saying ‘na only you sabi speak English. Na only you go school’. She then called her colleagues and said she’s going to beat me up. She’s going to show me madness because I sprayed my hair,” she narrated.
Everister said she sustained severe injuries on her head when Maria Okoi hit her with the butt of her gun, and that the soldiers numbering 7 slapped, kicked and dragged her, tearing her clothes to shreds.
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“Seven of them, two females and five males, including their boss, slapped me and used rope to tie my hands to my back”, she said.
They did not end there, it was alleged that the soldiers equally beat up her mother after her younger sister who was with her all these while ran home and alerted their parents. When the father, Paul Agbahime, a police inspector tried to intervene, one of the soldiers cocked her gun and thundered that she had been ordered to shoot, dispersing the crowd who had gathered.
Our correspondent who visited the scene at the weekend with human rights lawyer, James Ibor, confirmed from three different sources that the incident indeed took place with witnesses identifying Sergeant Maria Okoi and the leader of the soldiers who abetted the crime while it lasted.
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the 13th Brigade, Nigerian Army, Calabar, Captain Jemila Jimoh, said the military police was investigating the incident and promised to keep the public updated.
Meanwhile, James Ibor, the Principal Counsel of Basic Rights Initiative expressed concern over the growing criminality among military personnel carrying out police duties. According to Ibor, the Nigerian Military is inept and actively enabling criminality. He called on the Attorney General to rise to the occasion and ensure that justice is served.
Source: HitFm Calabar
