Police hunt soldiers for torturing Lekki lady on Romanian’s orders

The Lagos State Police Command has begun investigation into the alleged torture of a woman, identified only as Ogheneruno, by soldiers in the Lekki area of the state.

The police spokesperson, DSP Bala Elkana, said detectives were on the trail of the suspects, adding that they would face the full wrath of the law.

PUNCH Metro gathered that a Romanian, George Soare, who lived with his family at 6, Falilat Shomade Street, Lekki, hired three soldiers to beat up the victim.

The soldiers, who stormed the house in a vehicle, allegedly dragged out Ogheneruno from her room and tortured her.

Not done, the men allegedly stripped her naked and drove her to Lekki Phase One, where she was abandoned.

Some sympathisers were said to have taken her to hospital, as the case was reported to the police at the Ilase division.

George’s action was allegedly based on the allegation by his wife, Bukola, that some female co-tenants beat her up after a disagreement.

When our correspondent visited the house on Monday, he observed that the victim had returned home from hospital.

Ogheneruno, who still had fresh injuries on her back, groaned with pain at every slight movement of her body.

Two friends with her later carried her into the room, as she cried in pain.

When PUNCH Metro asked why she was brought back from the hospital early, no one responded.

She also refused to share details of the incident.

“I am in pain and I don’t think I want to say anything now,” she said.

One of her friends, who had initially showed willingness to talk, also recoiled, as the ladies referred our correspondent to the police.

However, a resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Romanian’s wife and the ladies had been having running battles.

She said, “The Romanian and his wife, Bukola, have been living here for some time. They stay on the first floor, while the ladies live on the ground floor.

“Bukola complained that the ladies always smoke outside at night and chatted loudly, which disturbed her and the children whenever they were outside on the balcony. When the ladies refused to stop, she started pouring dirty water on them from upstairs.

“The matter got to the attention of their landlady, who advised Bukola to go into her room whenever they started smoking. The ladies also reported her to her husband. The man waved it off and said it was a woman issue and they should resolve it among themselves.

“After the husband made that comment, they decided that anytime she did it again, they would retaliate. So, on May 1, they had started their pastime as usual when Bukola poured dirty water on them.

“When there was power outage, she came downstairs to turn on the generator; the ladies accosted her. While one of them went to get dirty water to pour on her,  another held her down. During the struggle, Bukola removed her clothes and ran to call her husband on the phone. Nobody knew what she told him.

“The man in anger called his friend, who connected him with the soldiers. They stormed the compound and found only the girl. They beat her to a pulp.”

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Elkana, said the suspect during interrogation claimed that he did not know the whereabouts of the soldiers.

He said, “The Romanian has been charged to court and remanded after he could not meet his bail conditions. As for the military men, we are making efforts to know where they came from because he said he only called a friend, who is a military man, and the man sent those guys. So, we are trying to identify that friend. We are looking at his call logs to get the other culprits. Investigation is ongoing.”