The Nigeria Army has debunked the reports that its men were
involved in the death of a man simply identified as George, in the Ogijo area
of Ogun State.
Report went viral over the weekend that George died after he
was beaten by troops of the 174 battalion in Ikorodu, Lagos.
The report claimed that the landlady of the deceased had
invited soldiers to discipline George for refusing to pay his rent.
But in a statement on Saturday, Sani Usman, spokesman of the
army, faulted Adesanya’s claim and demanded an apology.
“The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to media
reports and photograph of the corpse of one Mr. George of Ogijo, Ogun state,
allegedly murdered by troops of 174 battalion Ikorodu.
“The story and the photograph were ostensibly shared by one
Mr. Kenny Abel Adesanya through his Twitter handle.
“However, we have confirmed that the allegation is not true,
rather it was borne out of mischief, hatred for the Nigerian Army and attempt
to divert attention from those that committed the dastardly act.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the location where the incident
took place, Ogijo, is in Ogun state and 174 battalion does not have any
deployment there, neither do any of our troops patrol the area”, he said.
He said the investigative team discovered that the
landlady’s son invited his friends to torture the deceased.
“A team was dispatched to Ogijo divisional police station,
Ogun state, to investigate the matter. The incident dates back to 8th March
2017, one Mr. George (now late), was threatened by the son of his landlady that
he will invite his soldier friends to come and beat him for failing to pay his
rent which was long overdue,” Usman said.
“On the said day, the tenant was taken from the compound by
three young men and beaten up.
“The case was reported to Ogijo police station. The parties
involved were arrested and their statements taken.
“Thereafter, the police wanted to charge the matter to court
but the tenant and the landlady opted for out-of -court settlement. The young
men who carried out the beating were neither arrested nor their identity ascertained
by the police.
“The police claimed the landlady son said he used his
friends. The case was however treated as assault and discharged. No report was
sent to the military authorities because no soldier was involved.
“On 24th March 2017, the said tenant Mr. George died in his
house and his corpse was taken to the frontage of the landlady who quickly
reported to the Ogijo police station. She was arrested and the corpse was
deposited at the mortuary.
“The son of the landlady who is currently at large, is being
hunted by the police authority.
“Consequently, we wish to call on Mr. Adesanya, all other
persons that shared the story and the media to understand that Mr. George was
not murdered by any soldier, let alone those serving in 174 battalion and should
correct this erroneous impression.
“Additionally, Adesanya should render an unreserved apology
to 174 battalion in particular and the Nigerian Army, over this false
allegation, failure of which would attract legal action against him”, he added.
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