A former female soldier, Private Ruth Ogunleye, who was discharged from service after accusing a senior officer, Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem, of sexual harassment, has appealed to the Nigerian Army to publish the outcome of its investigation into the matter.
In January 2024, via her TikTok page, @Ogunleyeruthsavage1, Ogunleye alleged that Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem, Colonel G.S. Ogor and Brigadier General I.B. Solebo had made her life unbearable.
She specifically accused Abdulkareem of making repeated attempts to assault her, administering injections against her will, forcibly removing her from her residence and confining her to a psychiatric hospital for several months after she rejected his sexual advances.
However, addressing journalists on Tuesday, the Director of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, said that after an exhaustive review of the facts, testimonies, and evidence presented, it was determined that Abdulkareem did not commit the offences alleged by Ogunleye
Nwachukwu stated that medical reports following an evaluation at the National Hospital in Abuja indicated that Ogunleye was suffering from a condition that rendered her medically vulnerable.
Reacting to her discharge from service on her TikTok account on Tuesday, Ogunleye expressed gratitude to the Army, but pleaded for the outcome of the investigation to be made public.
She said, “I want to say a big thank you to the Nigerian Army and its spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu. It is no longer news that I was discharged from the service on June 15, 2024. I humbly request that the Nigerian Army publish the outcome of the investigation that led to my discharge.
