An eyewitness narrated that the soldier who was said to have accompanied a colleague to the hospital for treatment, asked the nurse to give him a better chair. But when the ‘better chair,’ he requested for was not forthcoming, the soldier ordered Adeniyi to get up from her seat for him. The nurse bluntly refused on the ground that the chair she was seated was meant for a nurse on duty and not for a visitors. This, according to the eyewitness, sparked off a hot argument between them which led to the soldier pouncing on the woman, giving her the beating of her life. It was further alleged that the irate soldier fought the woman as if he was at the war front, battling with invading enemies.
Efforts made by her colleagues on duty at the hospital on that fateful day, to rescue the helpless woman proved futile as none of them could dare the angry soldier. It took the timely intervention of the security men on duty to force the soldier to call, ‘a cease fire’ on the woman. Immediately calm was restored, the soldier disappeared from the scene. It was also gathered that for almost an hour due to the fight, all activities at wards was put to on halt. Nurses and doctors left other things they were doing to resuscitate their colleague. Bed-ridden at the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital where she is receiving treatment, even till time of the report, Adeniyi’s medical record showed that she sustained serious injuries on parts of her body. The records also showed that she has a broken neck as a result of battering.
To this end, the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), as a union, was unhappy with the development and vowed to do everything to make sure that it gets the desired justice. The association thereby called on the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Azubuike Ihejirika not to let the soldier go unpunished to serve as a deterrent to others.
Embittered over the development, the State Chairman NANNM, Abel Oloniyo, said the attack on the nurse was barbaric and animalistic, especially in the modern days that most military men are educated. His words: “It is highly pathetic that a soldier will descend so low to beat a woman like that. His conduct is highly barbaric and uncalled for. All we are fighting for is that the soldier should be disciplined.
“ I believe, for a soldier to beat a woman, is against the ethic of the military. It’s even wrong for you to touch a woman. A soldier who is supposed to protect the people is now maltreating a woman. From our end here, all we want is justice! We also believe justice delay is justice denied. The soldier must not be allowed to go Scot-free. We don’t want this case to be swept under the carpet. The soldier must be made to face the full wrath of the law.” Oloniyo appealed to the management of the hospital, to provide adequate security for health workers in all the hospitals in the state to stop such an incident happening again. He added that health workers in the hospital had always been victims of attacks from external forces. However, when it seemed that no comment was coming from both army and the state government on the development, the health workers embarked on a peaceful protest. The nurses also stopped work in all the wards of the hospital and vowed not to go back to work until the ‘errant’ soldier has been brought to book.
Carrying placards with various inscriptions such as ‘Enough is enough’, ‘We must get justice’ among others,’ the health practitioners called on the state government, the authorities of the Nigerian Army, and other stakeholders to intervene in the matter. In an effort to prevent the matter from degenerating to full labour crisis, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Dr. Kola Ademujimi, who represented the State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, pleaded with the nurses to go back to work, assuring them that the matter would be probed. “I want to appeal to you all to go back to work. We as the government, will investigate the matter to ensure that the soldier is brought to justice, ” he said Just as Ademujimi was addressing the aggrieved nurses, the representative of 32 Artillery Brigade, the Brigade Chief of Staff,
Colonel Muhammed Zuberu, also came to apologize to the nurses. He described the incident as unfortunate, adding that it was never in the character of the Army to attack innocent citizens. He then promised that the nurses would get the justice they were agitating for. Zuberu added: “The army we run today is a modern one. It is not the army of Kill and Go. I feel very sad and highly embarrassed with what I have seen. This Brigade is just barely one year and three months; the individuals who had course to relate with the Brigade will know that we don’t take this type of thing kindly. “We are not going to condone this act of lawlessness. We have instructed that the soldier be regimentally tried. Our regimental
trial is not like the normal court trial.” Zuberu said he was disappointed with the erring soldier’s behavior, adding that the man had brought disgrace upon the Nigerian Army.
He further assured that the soldier would be punished for a conduct prejudice to the military discipline, adding: “I want to assure you that such disgraceful conduct will never repeat
itself again. The soldier is presently in the cell! He cannot come out from the cell until he is finally tried.” Zuberu also promised to communicate the decision taken by the army on the case to the union, saying “I am asking you to forgive us. I am apologizing on behalf of the entire Army. And I promise that justice will be done in this matter!”
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