THE Acting Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, has directed an investigation into a viral video showing an alleged altercation between senior Nigerian Army personnel and soon-to-wed partners in the Gwarinpa area of Abuja.
The video, widely shared on social media, captures moments of assault involving a senior officer and two soldiers.
The victims, identified as Vershima Mker and Miss Lami Iorvihi, also accused the officers of brutality, including physical assault and unlawful detention.
The altercation began when their vehicle was accused of obstructing the convoy of a senior military officer, identified as G.S. Mohammed, a major-general, on 3rd Avenue in the Gwarinpa area of the Federal Capital Territory.
The video also revealed how Mker was dragged out of his car and beaten, while Iorvihi pleaded for mercy as she recorded the scene.
The situation escalated when the officers demanded her phone when they caught her recording the incident, which allegedly led to the couple’s detention at the Gwarinpa Police Station for eight hours.
A statement issued on Tuesday, November 19, by the director of Army public relations, Onyema Nwachukwu, a major general, confirmed that the acting chief of Army staff ordered a full investigation into the matter.
“The attention of the Nigerian Army (NA) has been drawn to a viral audio-visual recording circulating on social media platforms, purportedly showing a senior Army officer and 2 other soldiers in an altercation with a man and woman within the Abuja metropolis.
“The circumstances leading to this incident are not clear at the moment. However, the acting chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, has ordered an immediate investigation to unravel the true circumstances surrounding this altercation,” part of the statement read.
While stating that the Nigerian Army remained committed to serving and protecting all ‘law-abiding Nigerians’, the Army assured that due diligence would be applied to reach a logical conclusion on the matter.
Meanwhile, the couple has filed a N150 million lawsuit against the officers, accusing them of inhuman treatment, assault, and unlawful detention.
The couple said in the suit that they had made efforts to clear the road for the convoy despite heavy traffic. However, the officer and his aides reportedly blocked their car, assaulted them, and subjected them to public humiliation.
The couple alleged that they were handcuffed and forced into the boot of a military vehicle before being taken to the Gwarinpa Police Station, where they were detained for eight hours.
According to the lawsuit, Mohammed ordered their detention and later compelled them to write an apology under duress before their release.
The lawsuit read partly: “The brutal Army general and his details handcuffed our clients, pushed them into the boot of one of their vehicles and took them to the Gwarpa Police Station where the Army general ordered our clients to be detained until he would give word for their release.
“And true to his word, our clients were detained for eight hours until General G.S. Musa personally came to the Police Station with armed soldiers and compelled our clients to write an apology to him under duress before they were released.”
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M