Following public outcry, soldiers who were seen in viral videos assaulting some residents of Beere, in Ibadan, Oyo State capital on Sunday, were said to have been arrested and taken to the barracks.
This was claimed yesterday on Twitter by the Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Seun Fakorede. Fakorede wrote: “My ears are full with news of the unlawful activities of some soldiers of the Nigerian Army, over the weekend. I have immediately reached out to the Commandant of the Operation Burst and I have been assured that the men involved in this distasteful operation have been arrested and taken to the barracks.
“They will be dealt with accordingly. This will not repeat itself again in Oyo State. Please, kindly go about your daily business and activities without fear. Thank you.’’
Soldiers deployed in the streets of Beere in Ibadan to curb the #EndSARS protests were caught on camera flogging a woman for what they termed ‘indecent dressing.’
Some of the soldiers, who were chanting ‘End SARS,’ also shaved the heads of some youths said to be wearing improper hairstyles.
In the viral video, a young lady wearing a spaghetti-strapped dress and orange-coloured hairstyle was made to sit on the bare floor at a filling station while a soldier whipped her buttocks. The lady begged the soldier repeatedly but the adamant soldier asked her not to protect her buttocks as he continued to whip her.
A young man, whose head was also shaved, narrated how he was pulled down from a commercial motorcycle by one of the soldiers. Speaking in the Yoruba language, he said: “I was on a motorcycle with my friends around Beere when I was stopped by soldiers. They said they wanted to see us. I was wondering what I had done because I wasn’t in possession of any weapon and I am not a fraudster.
“They said I should take off my cap and when I did, they flogged me and asked me to kneel down. When I asked what my crime was, he ordered me to sit down and then brought out a pair of scissors from his pocket. The funny thing was that they collected money from us for the haircut.”
It would be recalled that last week, some men of the Nigerian Air Force in Osun State were seen flogging civilians who they had ordered to lie face down in the mud. The Air Force later said it had arrested the officers in a statement.
