Air Force Officers Assault Woman, Damage Her Car in Edo

The way some of the armed forces misuse power ehn! According to reports, a couple of soldiers physically assaulted a 51-year-old woman identified as Joy Agboghide yesterday  for allegedly obstructing traffic on Forestry Lane in Edo State.
It was reported that she was  instructed by a Major to reverse her car, which was parked in front of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company, in order to ease traffic on the narrow road. However,  the mother of six told the officer that she had already allowed five vehicles to go due to the indiscriminate parking of vehicles on the road. Her response sparked an argument between herself and the soldier and the army officer  insisted that she must reverse her vehicle.

When the woman refused, the major angrily returned to the BEDC  premises and returned with more soldiers. He then  allegedly ordered them to beat the woman up.

It was gathered that she was rushed to the Central Hospital in Benin after the assault. When asked, The woman recounted the incident saying,

“I went to Lagos Street to get some food items. So, I passed through Forestry (Lane) to the  road beside former NEPA. As I was going,  the driver of  the  vehicle  in front of me and some traders around told me to stop. I stopped and about four vehicles passed. Later, the traders told me to go. As I moved on, a soldier told me to reverse and I explained that I had waited for some vehicles to pass. But he said, ‘Do you know who you are talking to? Reverse!’ Before I knew it, he used his gun to hit my windscreen. I came out and asked him what I had done and he said I should wait. He went into the BEDC premises and came out with some soldiers who descended on me.”

She also stated that the Major instructed the soldiers to clear her off the road but she had pulled him before he could leave, adding that she told him to pay for the damage done to her car. Agboghide alleged that she was also assaulted by a woman presumed to be  the wife of the officer. “As the man jumped inside his vehicle and tried to drive off, I hit his windscreen. He came down and damaged my windscreen and  the rear screen. “Suddenly,  he came out with a whip and beat me. The lady inside the vehicle also sprayed tear gas into my eyes” she said.
Confirming the incident, Spokesman for the 4 Brigade Command of the Nigerian Army, Captain Jonah Unuakhalu  revealed that  the officer involved was not in the Army. “He is a Nigerian Air Force officer. But we are investigating” he stated.