The Nigerian Army has denied reports that soldiers of 174 Battalion in Ikorodu, Lagos beat a man to death in Ogun State.
Recall that the family of 40-year-old Adeola Oyekan had on Saturday said he died on Friday after he was brutalised by soldiers from the battalion.
The family said one Tunji, son of Oyekan’s landlady, had invited the soldiers to deal with the man and his wife for allegedly being rude to his mother, who had bickered with the deceased over rent arrears.
But the Nigerian Army has said that its investigation confirmed that the allegations were false.
In a statement by the Director Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, the Army said, “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.
“To further buttress this fact, a team was despatched to Ogijo Divisional Police Station, Ogun State, to investigate the matter.
“It was confirmed that 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. 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.”
The Army said the police wanted to take the matter to court but the tenant and the landlady opted to settle out of court.
It added, “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.”
The Army is also threatening to sue one Kenny Abel Adesanya, who posted a photo of Oyekan, who the Army referred to in its statement as Mr. George, along with the claim that soldiers were responsible for his death.
It said, “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, Mr 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.”
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