By
Ikeddy ISIGUZO
SOMEWHERE
in Nigeria, a young lady is spending her days shading more tears, no thanks to
the Nigerian Army which she has declared her "mentally ill" with such
gusto that it would appear it was a badge of honour. She is Ruth Ogunleye, the
female soldier who was discharged from the military for accusing a senior
officer, Colonel I.B Abdulkareem, of sexual harassment.
The allegation was
weighty. She claimed in a TikTok video that she went public as a last resort
since her complaints were ignored. The Army ordered an investigation.
Major-General Onyema
Nwachukwu, Defence Headquarters Director of Information, said, “The
investigation concluded that Colonel IB Abdulkareem did not commit the offence
of sexual harassment as alleged by Ex-Private Ruth Ogunleye. The findings were
definitive and based on objective evaluation of the available information.
“The Army maintains
that Col. Abdulkareem is a disciplined, regimented, and firm officer who has
upheld the values of the Nigerian Army throughout his service.”
Ogunleye, Nwachukwu
said, was recommended for discharge on medical grounds since 2022, but was kept
in service to give her the best medical treatment possible and stabilise her
before discharging her into the wider society.
“I beg the Nigerian
Army to post the outcome of the investigation on its social media platforms so
that the whole world will know what truly transpired and what led to my
discharge. I will be very grateful if my request is considered,” Ogunleye said,
in differing with the conclusions of the Army.
She also wants the
Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, who prevailed on her to write
the discharge letter, which Mrs. Kennedy-Ohanenye submitted on her behalf to
the Nigerian Army.
Ogunleye queried how
her voluntary discharge was converted to a medical discharge.
“I’m calling out the
Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy. You’re not just a mother, you’re a
woman everybody respects so much. Please come out and say things as they are.
Ma, you requested me to leave the job, and I submitted my handwritten voluntary
resignation letter to you, which you gave to the Army, and requested that they
release me to your office. The psychiatric doctors were there when you
intervened.
“Come out and tell the
truth, Ma. Thereafter, the Chief of Army Staff called me on July 1, where he
told me he converted my voluntary discharge to a medical discharge because you
wanted me to benefit from pension and other entitlements. How was I boarded
out, and where is this mental illness coming from?”
“The medical
evaluation confirmed that Ruth Ogunleye was suffering from a condition that
made her medically vulnerable. In light of this, the army, while fully capable
of proceeding with disciplinary action for her acts of indiscipline and
misconduct, opted to exercise compassion and leniency. Based on the medical
report from the National Hospital and the advice of the Nigerian Army Medical
Corps, the decision was made to shelve any disciplinary procedures that could
have been brought against her, Nwachukwu told the media in Abuja on Tuesday.
“Instead, the Army
prioritised her health, understanding that she was in no position to continue
with military service. She was subsequently boarded and discharged from service
in June,” he said.
The Army’s benevolence
to Ogunleye, Nwachukwu said, included a 50 per cent disability claim which
means that Ogunleye will receive a 50 per cent monthly pension for life though
she did not serve up the 10 years required to qualify for pension.
If for a moment we
agree that the Army discharged Ogunleye on medical grounds, was it not an
invasion of her privacy for her medical records to be made public? How does the
Army make a statement of that weight against her and think that the 50 per cent
pension (of how much) and not putting her through disciplinary procedures
justified the allegation?
What types of
“potential mental health concerns” does she have? Experts say there are more
than 200 types of mental health issues. Does she suffer from all of them?
In Nigeria, “potential
mental health concerns” is summed up as madness. Does the Army realise what it
has done to the young woman?
Congratulations, to
the officers whose names were cleared. Their careers and names have been saved
as they were served justice.
Is slapping mental
illness on Ogunleye her own justice? Can anything remove this stigma which she
would bear for live, which would also be on her official records? Will the Army
accede to her request that the report of the investigation be made public? Or
is the report a secret document in the realms of a battle plan?
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