A serving police sergeant in Lagos and a friend have accused some soldiers of subjecting them to extreme torture, and inflicting severe injuries on them.
For subjecting them to extreme torture, and inflicting severe injuries on them, Akan Jackson, a serving Police sergeant in Lagos, and another resident have accused some soldiers of the Nigerian Army.
It was gathered that on Saturday, October 3, along the Alaba International Market Road in Ojo, Lagos, three soldiers believed to be from Ibereko Barracks, Badagry, savagely brutalised Jackson and his friends.
The policeman said he and his friend were subsequently abducted and taken to the riverside where the soldiers threatened to kill them and dump their bodies.
According to the policeman, it all began when a soldier he later identified as Okon who carried no identification whatsoever, accosted him, and started flogging him with a horsewhip.
He said the incident happened as he tried to turn his vehicle at a point close to Alaba Market, to avoid a traffic snare. He said as Okon was flogging him, two other soldiers, including one Abu and another, joined in the beating.
"At about 4pm on Saturday, October 3, I was driving with my friend along the Alaba International Market road. When I realised that there was traffic build up, I decided to turn and go through the expressway. As I attempted to turn, I saw a man in blue overalls. He accosted me and asked why I wanted to turn. I told him I wanted to get on the expressway.
"Instantly, he drew his koboko and started flogging me. I asked him why he was doing that, explaining that I was a policeman and that I did not do any wrong, but he was adamant. Not done, he forcefully dragged me out of the vehicle and continued flogging me, insisting that the police were not officers in Nigeria. When I held the koboko, his colleagues instantly came and joined him.
"I told them to ask their colleague what happened rather than beating me, but they didn’t listen. One of them, Abu, gave me a savage head-butt in my eye and instantly I sustained a serious injury. They now forced my friend into their patrol van, and bundled me in too. I asked them where they were taking us to but they warned me to ask no more questions. But I persisted so that I could call my people to our plight.
"Then one of them said they were going to hang us. When we got close to my station, I saw my colleagues mobilising to rescue me. I wanted to signal to them because the information had already gotten to the station, but the soldiers pressed me down so that nobody would see me.
"They took us to an unknown place near the river where I summoned courage and asked them why they brought us that far. They said they missed their way, but we should thank God they had no jack knife, that they would have killed us and dumped our bodies in the river. Shortly after, they drove us away."