Former soldier Private Ruth Ogunleye, who was discharged after accusing a senior officer, Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem, of sexual harassment, has called on the Nigerian Army to make public the findings of its investigation into the case.
In January 2024, Ogunleye, through her TikTok page @Ogunleyeruthsavage1, claimed that Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem, along with Colonel G.S. Ogor and Brigadier General I.B. Solebo, had subjected her to severe mistreatment. She specifically accused Abdulkareem of multiple attempts to assault her, administering injections without her consent, forcibly evicting her from her residence, and confining her to a psychiatric hospital for months after she rejected his sexual advances.
However, speaking to journalists on Tuesday, the Director of Army Public Relations, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu, stated that a thorough review of the facts, testimonies, and evidence concluded that Abdulkareem did not commit the alleged offenses.
Nwachukwu added that medical reports from an evaluation at the National Hospital in Abuja indicated that Ogunleye was suffering from a condition that made 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.
“On January 9, 2024, I came on social media to complain about how I was harassed by Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem, Colonel G.S. Ogor, and Brigadier General I.B. Solebo. 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.”
In a separate post, Private Ruth Ogunleye also urged the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy, to speak out on the matter, instead of remaining silent.
Ogunleye revealed that it was the minister who encouraged her to write the discharge letter, which Kennedy then submitted to the Nigerian Army on her behalf.
She expressed her surprise and dismay that her discharge was attributed to a mental illness.
She said, “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?”