Ruth Ogunleye, the soldier discharged after accusing senior officers of harassment and sexual abuse, has revealed that Chief of Defense Staff Christopher Gwabin Musa once advised her to ‘endure’ the abuse.

Ogunleye made this disclosure in a Sunday PUNCH interview while responding to a question about her efforts to escape abuse.

She said that Musa, who was not CDS yet, claimed he could not do anything about it when she reported it.

Ogunleye said she had contacted Musa to come to her aid after her initial attempts to seek redress were not taken seriously. But even that, according to her, did not help her get justice.

“After a while, I summoned the courage to seek redress, but in the military, such grievances need to pass through your superior officer. The colonel never forwarded my complaints. It wasn’t until I contacted the current Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. C.G Musa, that I received a response,” Ogunleye recounted.

READ MORE: Nigerian Army Discharges Soldier Who Accused Colonel of Sexual Harassment

“However, at that time, he simply advised me to “endure” the situation and did not take any concrete steps to address the issue. At the time, he had not assumed the position of the CDS. I begged him to persuade the colonel to let me go for a course. Apart from the fact that I wanted to leave the unit, I would not be promoted if I didn’t go to school. Moreso, I couldn’t fight him because if I did, I wouldn’t win.

“Later, he intervened and told me that my former boss said I had a mental illness. He told me that he was not in the medical line, so he could not do anything. He made me to understand that he was an infantry officer, which I knew as well, and advised me not to be in a hurry.”

While recounting her attempts to escape the intimidation, Ogunleye also touched on some gory detail of how and why  I.B Abdulkareem, the accused senior officer, had drugged her and threatened her into silence.

“Sometimes, I could get injected thrice a week. This affected my tongue and body system. It got to a point that I was not comfortable with it again. He denied me access to calls. I could not go anywhere. If I applied for any course, he would use his influence to tell them not to give me admission.”

Ogunleye further explained how as a final resort, she sought the help of the Army Legal Counsel. The attempt to seek legal counsel, according to her, was her third attempt at seeking redress.

Ogunleye said her experience had even caught the attention of  M.L Abubakar, who was the Provost Commander at the time, and the commander encouraged her to seek redress.

Even after a board was constituted to investigate her claims, Ogunleye said that the board did not treat the case thoroughly.

“When my redress got to the board, they just viewed me as someone who should come, talk and leave. I was expecting that they would ask for my evidence. They did not ask for witnesses or evidence. They just decided to allow the matter to die. With this, my former boss continued his act,” Ogunleye said.

Ogunleye’s ordeal got the full attention of the Nigerian Army, the media and the government after she took to her TikTok account to call out Abdulkareem and other alleged accomplices in January.

She said that Uju Ohaneye, the Minister of Women Affairs, got involved in the investigation and medical tests that cleared her of the suspicions of suffering any mental illness.

“The Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, got involved and took me for various tests, including drug and mental health evaluations. The results were clear — I was not using drugs, and I did not have any mental illness,” Ogunleye said.

“During the investigation, the minister asked me what I wanted, and I told her that I no longer had any interest in continuing my military career. She then advised me to apply for voluntary discharge.

“However, since I had only served for five years, I wouldn’t be eligible for any pension benefits. The minister promised to help me secure a job at the Ministry of Women Affairs through the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.”

READ MORE: Discharged Soldier Ruth Ogunleye Asks Army to Publish Outcome of Rape Investigation

FIJ had earlier reported how the army had discharged Ogunleye under the guise of mental health concerns. The army also absolved Abdulkareem and the officers of any allegation Ogunleye made against them.

Onyema Nwachukwu, the Director of Army Public Relations, had insisted that Ogunleye was recommended for discharge because of concerns for her mental well-being.

FIJ called Nwachukwu on Monday to get comments on the CDS’ involvement in Ogunleye’s case. However, Nwachukwu did not answer the calls. FIJ also sent him text messages on the same day. He had not responded to the messages at press time.