The man, Adeyemi Akintoye is currently receiving treatment for injuries he sustained after the torture in a hospital in the Yaba area of Lagos.
The incident happened on Thursday around 6pm, while Akintoye was returning from work, during which he was dispossessed of a sum of N350,000 he had collected from a client.
It was gathered that the soldiers identified as Uko Obasi and another whose name is yet unknown, from the Tailoring Department of the Ordinance Barracks, Yaba, allegedly assaulted Akintoye near Tejuosho Market, Ojuelegba Road, Yaba, and kicked him repeatedly with with a boot.
Trouble started when the soldiers walking on the same road with Akintoye ordered him to walk faster.
Akintoye, who held a folder containing the money, replied that he was not obstructing their movement as the road was wide enough for everyone to pass. That was all the soldiers needed to pounce on him. They brutally beat him to a pulp that the lawyer fell to the ground and became still. The money he had with was taken.
Angered by the scene, a crowd gathered and held one of the soldiers while the other ran away. The crowd dragged the soldier to the Ordinance Barracks where the army authorities promised to look into the matter and get back to the lawyer.
The matter was later reported at the Sabo Police Division.
Narrating the incident, 33-year-old Akintoye said the soldiers would have escaped if not for the intervention of the crowd. He lost his wallet and folder containing about N350,000, paid by one of his clients during the commotion.
He said, “I was coming from work on Thursday around 6pm. Near the Yaba Market, I heard a voice behind me saying, ‘Walk faster. Do you think this is your sitting room?’ I replied, ‘The space is wide enough for anyone to pass’. I received a slap from behind immediately.
“When I looked back and saw two soldiers, I said, ‘What is my offence?’ I received another slap and they started beating me up. “They were with daggers. They punched me and kicked me with their boots. People were shouting that I would die.
“In the commotion, my wallet and ATM cards were stolen. My folder containing N350,000 was stolen. It was given to me as part payment by a client. Blood was streaming down my face. When they saw the blood, they wanted to escape. “But I held on to one of them.
People gathered and started taking photographs. The other soldier escaped. I did not know that a senior police officer was around and watching.” “It was the police officer who took both of us to the barracks.
At the barracks, one of the senior military officers said I was a “bloody civilian” and could be beaten up by soldiers. “Another officer apologised and took my contact details, saying the military would get back to me. I went to a hospital immediately to get treatment for the injuries I sustained,” Akintoye added.
The spokesperson for the Nigerian Army, Division 81, Col. Kingsley Samuel, said the matter would be investigated, saying the army would not condone indiscipline on the part of its officers.
He said, “We are going to investigate the matter. But let the lawyer give a better description of the barracks so we can be sure where the soldiers are attached.”
The lawyer added that when he and the soldier were taken to the barracks, the military authorities promised to get back to him. Nothing has been heard from the military authorities yet.
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