By: Sunday Ameh
A female soldier identified as Corporal Marian Agumba has accused some senior officers of the Nigerian Army of sexual harassment, brutality, and persistent threats to her life, following what she described as years of victimisation and frustration within the military.
In a viral video circulating on social media on Thursday, Corporal Agumba made a passionate appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Chief of Defence Staff, alleging that her life and that of her young child were in grave danger.
“I’m calling upon Mr. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Chief of Defence Staff. Maybe if I had made this video earlier, all these things wouldn’t have been lingering,” she said in the video.
According to the soldier, who said she had served in the Army for 13 years, her ordeal began after she rejected sexual advances from some superior officers. She claimed that since then, she had been intimidated, assaulted, and unjustly punished on multiple occasions.
“I joined the Army with my whole heart to serve the country, but since I joined, I’ve not had peace of mind. The officers kept frustrating my life. Had it been I was sleeping around the way officers wanted, they wouldn’t have been doing all these things to me,” she alleged tearfully.
Agumba alleged that two senior officers — Lieutenant Colonel Osarema and Lieutenant Colonel Nkanan — were among those who ordered her assault and illegal detention after she refused their sexual demands.
“Because I refused to sleep with him, Lieutenant Colonel Osarema gave the order for them to assault me and my child. They locked me and my two-year-old child in the guardroom. They later deranked me from Corporal to Lance Corporal,” she said.
She further disclosed that despite her voluntary discharge from the Army in July, harassment from the officers had continued, with several threatening to revoke her discharge certificate and seize her benefits.
“The harassment did not stop even after I left. They kept threatening my life and said they would make me disappear. Now they want to revoke my certificate and deny me my entitlements after serving Nigeria for 13 years,” she lamented.
Corporal Agumba also decried the widespread sexual exploitation, corruption, and intimidation faced by female soldiers in the military, claiming that refusal to yield to officers’ sexual advances often leads to punishment, victimisation, or stagnation in rank.
“As a young Igbo lady, if you are not sleeping with an officer, you’ll face malice and frustration. This is what many female soldiers are going through. I just want peace, justice, and to be left alone,” she pleaded.
The embattled soldier concluded her video by appealing to President Tinubu, the Chief of Army Staff, and human rights organisations to intervene and ensure her safety and justice.
As of press time, the Nigerian Army has yet to issue an official statement regarding Agumba’s allegations, though calls are growing on social media for an independent investigation into her claims and the alleged abuse of power within the ranks.
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