soldiers of assaulting and beating him into a
coma for refusing to obey their order to do frog
jumps.
Speaking to PUNCH, the cleric alleged that he
was flogged by Cpl. M. Dankwa and his
colleague whose name he did not know, until he
collapsed and was rushed to the Gwarimpa
General Hospital where he was admitted at the
Emergency ward
The civil engineer said he was supervising
construction works at Paradise Estate, Life
Camp, Abuja when the soldiers invaded the site
with officials of the Development Control
Department and
assaulted him and other workers.
Ochienu told Northern City News on Tuesday
that the soldiers beat him with rifle butts and
kicked him in the stomach simply because he
told them he could not obey their order to do
frog jumps as he was fasting.
The engineer said he lost his phone during the
incident which occurred on January 17, 2017 at
3pm.
Ochienu said despite his pleas to the
rampaging soldiers that he was fasting, they
refused to listen, but rather flogged him until he
collapsed.
He said,
“The soldiers rushed into the site and
ordered everyone to frog-jump; they
flogged the workers and threatened to
shoot us. I tried to explain to them that I
was weak because I was fasting, but
Dankwa was infuriated by my
explanation.
“He kicked me in the stomach; another
soldier also joined in beating me till I
collapsed. When they saw that I was
almost lifeless, they left and I was
rushed to the hospital by the workers.”
The cleric said he learnt the soldiers apologized
to the owners of the estate “for their mistake.”
But Ochienu said he planned to take legal
action against the Development Control
Department and the military for the assault.
The Paradise Estate Project Manager, Tobias
Tokbe, said he was not at the scene, but added
that beside Ochienu, another worker, Bem Ali,
was also brutalised by the soldiers without any
reason.
He said,
“I was discussing with the development
control officials at the project office
when I saw some workers carrying
somebody and they told me Ochienu was
beaten by the soldiers that accompanied
the development control officials to the
site; I was livid.
“I immediately called the development
control director who said he didn’t
authorise the soldiers to attack anyone.
We asked the soldier why he beat up the
engineer and he said Ochienu grabbed
his jacket, which we know was a lie.”
Tokbe said the riot policemen guarding the
estate almost fought with the soldiers after the
incident.
When contacted, the Development Control
Director, Muktar Galadima, said he was
informed about the incident and “I said sorry,
but I didn’t see the victim of the attack.”
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