Former Nigerian Army female soldier Private Ruth Ogunleye has contested both her pension and the grounds for her release. According to the army, she was given a lifelong 50% monthly pension and was released for medical reasons. Ruth, who served for five years, claimed in a live AIT coverage that her length of service precludes her from being entitled for a pension.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
Ogunleye explained that she only became eligible for the pension because she was “boarded out,” a process that involves assessing a soldier’s fitness to continue service. According to her, this process requires an interview, a mental health evaluation by a psychiatrist, and a Board of Inquiry (BOI) to review the soldier’s case. However, she claims that none of these procedures were followed in her case.
Ruth said the pension was given as compensation for the abuse she suffered at the hands of Colonel I.B. Abdulkareem, whom she accused of forcibly sleeping with her.
In Ruth’s words: “I served 5 years in the army and I am not eligible for pension. Because they boarded me out that is where I was qualified for pension and before one can be boarded out of the army there are procedures. They will call you for interview, they will call the psychiatrist to check your mental state, there will be unit RSM, there will be a BOI set up because of that soldier to know if the soldier is still fit to continue the job. In my own case nothing like that happened. They did that to compensate me for what Col IB Abdulkareem did to me”. CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>