Soldiers allegedly torture ex-serviceman to death
- Some soldiers have allegedly tortured a former serviceman, Victor Ochoma, to death; after which they dumped his corpse in a hospital
- The half brother of the deceased, Neville Ochoma, who reportedly saw him before he died, said he bled from his mouth and nostrils
- The mother of the deceased, Edith Ochoma, called for the soldiers responsible for her son’s death to be arrested and prosecuted
An ex-soldier, Victor Ochoma, was allegedly tortured to death by some military operatives attached to a construction company in the Ahoada East local government area of Rivers state, Punch reports.
The deceased had reportedly quit the Army in 2014 after joining a special squad to fight the Boko Haram insurgency.
Legit.ng gathers that a lack of weapons to fight the terrorists caused the 25-year-old to quit; and he was subsequently employed as a security guard in a road construction firm on Ihugbogo Road.
Some soldiers attached to the Ahoada command were reportedly deployed to provide security for the workers as they constructed the roads.
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However, a man was caught with an iron rod which was allegedly stolen, and confessed that one of the company’s guards had sold it to him. As a result, Victor was seized. He was reportedly taken to the Ahoada military base afterwards, and tortured to death; afterwhich, the soldiers dumped his corpse at a general hospital.
The half brother of the deceased, Neville Ochoma, who reportedly saw him before he died, said he bled from his mouth and nostrils. He also added that his brother denied selling the rod to the suspect. He said other security guards on the premises fled while his brother was taken to the military base where he was tortured.
In his words: "They took him to their base and tortured him from Sunday night till the early hours of Monday. By morning, they took him to the Ahoada Police Station. The police rejected him because of his condition. They told the soldiers to first take him to a hospital for treatment.
“Instead of taking him to a hospital, they took him to their command at Ahoada. They beat up the man they found the rod with as well, but Victor’s torture was much because he was an ex-military man.”
He said the torture continued and family members who visited at 11am were denied access to Victor for two hours before being called in.
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“We met him vomiting blood in the mouth and nostrils. He had suffered internal bleeding. When they saw that his condition was critical, they brought their van and took him to the Ahoada General Hospital. Before we got to the hospital, he was dead. They left his corpse at the hospital, put their van in reverse and left," he added.
The half brother stated that the family was turned back by the Ahoada Police Division after they went to report the case. They were told the divisional police officer was not around; and the divisional crime officer was alleged to have also rejected the case. He said he was also chased away after returning to the army base to meet the commandant.
He stated: “The rate of torture at the base was scary. There were some other people being tortured when I got there with another relative.”
Ochoma further disclosed that the deceased had quit the Army after surviving three attempts on his life.
The mother of the deceased, Edith Ochoma, called for the soldiers responsible for her son’s death to be arrested and prosecuted. She said: “The boy was innocent. He cannot die just like that.”
An uncle, Johnson Nwocha, said the family was still deliberating on what should be done.
Nnamdi Omoni, the state police public relations officer, said the Police had nothing to do with the matter. He said: “I am aware of the matter, but I cannot comment on it because it does not have anything to do with the police. You know the appropriate quarters to contact; I have nothing to say.”
The Army’s spokesperson, Division 6, Lt Col Aminu Iliyasu, could not be reached on his telephone line and had yet to respond to a text message sent to his telephone.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that officials of the Nigerian military said they had identified the soldiers who tortured a member of the public in Mararaba, Nasarawa state.
Yusuf Shalangwa, director of legal services of the Army made this known in Abuja when the military appeared before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
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Source: Legit.ng
