A Nigerian female soldier has raised the alarm, accusing a senior officer of attempting to rape her and subjecting her to harsh work conditions because she refused his sexual advances.

In a viral video posted on X (Formerly Twitter), the fair-complexioned soldier dressed in a black shirt alleged that Col I.B Abdulkareem was maltreating her because she refused his sexual advances.

“In 2022, I was posted to Cantonment Medical Centre, Ojo, where I met Colonel I.B Abdulkareem who requested for me and I refused. Ever since then, this man has been my nightmare in the army,” she said.

“There was a time I called my dad to intervene. My dad called him, he told my dad to tell me to obey the last order. What is the last order? For him to sleep with me.”

The female soldier said Mr Abdulkareem almost raped her but when he was caught he lied that she was mentally ill, adding that should anything happen to her, Mr Abdulkareem, two other senior officers, Colonel G.S Ogor and Brigadier-General I.B Solebo, should be held responsible.

“He came to my room to inject me. I have evidence and witnesses. He also stigmatised me each time I tried to expose him. He wrote to DOA to board me out of the army. He froze my account for one year.

“There was a day, he locked me. He injected me and almost raped me. When they caught him, he said I have a mental illness. He took me to a psychiatric hospital and locked me up there for almost one month without medication. He denied me military courses,” she said.

The viral video has elicited criticisms against the Nigerian Army with many Nigerians on social media calling for investigation into her allegations.

Peoples Gazette reached Nigerian Army spokesperson, Onyeama Nwachukwu, for comments on Saturday. Mr Nwachukwu however said the army had already responded to the allegations, referring The Gazette to a statement released on Friday.

In the statement, Mr Nwachukwu said that the Nigerian army would investigate the allegations but blamed the soldier for not exhausting internal procedures to seek redress.

He said, “The Nigerian Army has been inundated with audiovisuals making the rounds on social media of the unprofessional conduct of a female soldier in mufti, who claimed to have been maltreated by some senior officers. It is instructive to state that considering the gravity of the allegations, NA as a disciplined force will conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.

“It is crucial to point out that contrary to the claims made in the video, the soldier in question has not exhausted the laid down procedure for seeking redress in the NA. This is aside Human Rights and Gender Desks established in Army Headquarters and across NA formations, where complaints about human rights and gender issues are also entertained.’’