Martins Ogunniyi, a staff member of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), in Ibadan, Oyo State, was beaten by two personnel of the Nigerian Army, after his car was hit by one of the soldiers in front of the University of Ibadan in Ibadan, on Tuesday night.

Ogunniyi told FIJ that he was rounded up by the two soldiers because he filmed the accident scene at the Agbowo axis of the university.

“During the traffic gridlock, the soldier, who was in Army camouflage, tried to negotiate a turning at UI gate to join Ojoo lane when he bashed my car and destroyed the front light and bonnet,” he said.

“Immediately, he wanted to place the blame on me and that was why I began to film him on the phone. By the time the tension was high, another person driving a Lexus car, who identified himself as ‘personnel’, came beside me and whispered into my ears to stop filming.

“He said it as a form of solidarity for his colleague but they were not together when the initial incident occurred. I am not even sure they knew each other before. He only pulled over when he saw that a soldier like himself was in some sort of trouble.

“Since I did not stop filming, the soldier driving the Lexus car charged at me with his belt and both of them began to hit my head and body till I started bleeding.”

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Although the accused soldiers could not be identified by name as they were not in their full uniform, the first actor of the event drove an official car with Vehicle Registration Number Plate NA410 – B 05 while the other one drove a Lexus ash-colour car with the Number Plate: AGL – 996HE.

To avoid jungle justice, commercial motorcyclists at Agbowo, who came to Ogunniyi’s rescue, allowed the soldiers to leave after the actual offender apologized for wrongdoing. 

“The motorcyclists wanted him to treat me over the pains inflicted and pay for my damaged car on that spot, but he begged and asked me to follow him to the barracks,” Ogunniyi noted.

“They did not trust him not to handle me badly in their absence. So, they privately asked me to keep evidence of the incident and take up the case with the appropriate authorities afterwards.”

He insisted he still wants justice, as he still sufferes the “trauma from that night’s event”.

“This can not be tolerated in a civilized society,” he said.

Onyema Nwachukwu, the Army spokesman, did not respond to FIJ’s calls or text messages for comments on the matter.