A female soldier, Lance Corporal Philomena Nnamoko, stationed at Ilese Sappers Barracks, Division 2, Ogun State, claimed that she faced bullying and harassment from senior colleagues due to her refusal of their sexual advances.
Subsequently, following an interview with Sunday PUNCH on January 28, 2024, she was reportedly assaulted and sent to Yaba Psychiatric Hospital.
Philomena, in the interview, disclosed instances of sexual advances from superiors and her unsuccessful attempts to secure a voluntary discharge.
Emmanuel Brown, her son, shared that he discovered his mother unconscious, covered in bruises, after the reported assault.
He mentioned that she was later taken to the Yaba Psychiatric Hospital, leaving him bewildered about the circumstances.
Corroborating this, Philomena’s lawyer, Kayode Oshiyemi, alleged that a senior officer assaulted her on Monday, and they fabricated a mental health issue to conceal the assault.
Oshiyemi emphasized that she is mentally stable, having been his client for over a year, and provided detailed accounts of harassment, assault, and attempted rape.
Philomena’s twin brother, Philip Edwin, also asserted that there was nothing wrong with her mental health, citing recent interactions.
Despite these claims, efforts to contact the army’s spokesperson, Onyema Nwachukwu, were unsuccessful at the time of filing the report.
