A junior officer of the Nigerian Navy, Navy Seaman Haruna (X14608, 22/69 regular intake) has in a viral video, lamented an alleged ill-treatment as an orderly in the hands of a senior navy officer, Rear Admiral I.O Mohammed.
In a video which lasted nearly twenty minutes, the official, while substantiaring his claims with documentary evidences voiced his frustrations stating that the senior officer who he claimed was tribalistic treated him as a slave, denied him leave and extorted his personal funds.
“As I was working with him, this man started frustrating me. When I told this man that my father was late and I wanted to attend my sister’s wedding, he told me to withdraw N4,000 from my account and give to Mallam Ibrahim to do some work in his house. He could not refund the money back to me”.
Read also: Navy, police partner to improve security in Lagos
He stated that on one occasion, he was asked to hug a tree bred by soldier ants and was made to trek from Apo ShopRite to Niger barracks in Abuja.
He further narrated how he was allegedly locked in the guradroom for 23 days, had his phone seized by the same Rear Admiral Mohammed with all information formated. He stated that he was charged, deranked and asked to pay the sum of N120,000 as punishment for driving the admirals car.
He went on to state how he involved a lawyer to write petitions to the Commander of the Naval Unit, the Chief of Naval Staff and the Chief of Defence Staff which all fell on deaf ears as he was urged at the legal department of the Naval Headquarters to withdraw the case.
“I want to tell Nigerians that our leaders are not helping us, they are not encouraging us” Haruna said. “I have the zeal to do the military job but this man is discouraging me from doing the job based on the kind of ill treatment I’m undergoing”
“I want to tell Nigerians that I’m not safe, the Navy has failed me, the armed forces have failed me the way they failed Nigerians’” he said calling on human rights groups and the federal government to grant ears to his case.
Opinions