Ezeiruaku Ifeyinwa Fidelis, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, allegedly assaulted by a female Army officer of 13 Brigade Command Calabar, has disclosed the events that led to the dispute.
The corps member was seen in a viral, kneeling while the soldier, identified as Lt. Chika Viola Anele, poured an unknown substance on her, after which she hit the victim with the object in her hand.
In an interview with BBC Pidgin, Ezeiruaku explained her ordeal, which she said happened because of an argument over small chops.
She narrated that the female soldier had mixed sand with water and poured the mixture on her after punishing her with drills.
According to her, “The issue started when the Commander of the brigade at Army barracks hosted a competition so I was selected as an usher for guests.
“When I got there, I saw one of my friends, an officer that I played Ayo game with. As I was greeting him, Lieutenant Chika Anele came and shouted at me that I could not touch an officer who is in army uniform. As she said that to me, I drew back and returned to my duty post.
“On July 28, a message was sent via WhatsApp that Lieutenant Chika invited corps members to a meeting. I didn’t see the message initially but I went to the meeting and when I got there, she brought me out and said it was because of me she called the meeting and asked me to go and wear my NYSC uniform.
“When I got to my room, I saw that I was already menstruating and I needed to clean up so I could dress properly. As I was having my bath, she sent someone to come and check what I was doing, the person told her I was bathing.
“She called all the corps members and asked some to fetch water in a bucket and she took me to the backyard of the corps members’ lodge. She said I should do “press up, frog jump and all.”
“As I was doing the frog jump, she asked me to kneel, then asked some corps members to bring stones and asked me to carry them on my head.
“She said it was when she saw tears dropping from my eyes that she would release me. When I got tired, I dropped the stones.
“She asked them to bring sand. She started pouring it on my body and started cursing me. She said if I didn’t cry, she would not leave me. As she was pouring that on me, my body was already itching because it was dirty water.
“So, I pulled my jacket, it was remaining my white shirt. As she was doing that, my body itched more, and I decided to pull my brassiere. She rained insults on me the more.”
Although the Army said it was embarrassed by the incident and apologised, Nigerians have continued to express displeasure over the conduct of the female officer, which they tagged as ‘Unprofessional’.
Ezeiruaku, who was doing a mandatory NYSC programme at the 13 Brigade headquarters of the Army in Calabar, where the incident happened, has been re-posted to Lagos state.
