A soldier committed suicide on Saturday after killing his wife at the infamous Wawa military Cantonment, New Bussa, Kainji, Niger State. The military facility, over the decade, has been known for detaining hundreds of Boko Haram suspects arrested during the ongoing insurgency in the Northern part of the country.
Learnt that the soldier, Femi Akinleye, a Lance Corporal, was posted to the 22 Armoured Brigade of the Nigerian Army, located within the Wawa Cantonment, but was on barracks duty.
A signal exclusively obtained revealed that Akinleye also shot dead his wife, identified as Blessing, around 11:30 am. It read, “SPECIAL SITREP. SITREP AS AT 111605A OCT 25. SUICIDE AND MURDER INCIDENT.* AT ABOUT 111130A OCT 25, 18NA/77/1173
LCPL AKENLEYE FEMI, A PERSONNEL OF 221BN WAWA CANTONMENT WHO WAS ON BARRACKS DUTY, WAS REPORTED TO HAVE COMMITTED SUICIDE BY KILLING HIS WIFE BLESSING, AND FIRED HIMSELF AT 221BN CBQ BLOCK 15 ROOM 24. THEREAFTER, BOTH REMAINING ARE DEPOSITED AT 221BN. MRS MEANWHILE, THE FURTHER INVESTIGATION IS CURRENTLY ONGOING TO ASCERTAIN THE CAUSE OF THE INCIDENT.”
The cause of his action is not known yet, but the recurring nature of such incidents has raised concerns about whether soldiers fighting terrorists are receiving adequate mental and psychological treatment. Some of the soldiers have in the past complained about poor welfare, overstaying in a particular region, and treatment by the military hierarchy.
They said they were battling with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder because the authorities refused to carry out a rotation. Recently, there have been allegations of corruption in the Nigerian Army, which some of the soldiers have blamed for their loss of interest.
According to some soldiers, the army is the epitome of deep-seated corruption. They noted that corruption is affecting the prosecution of the anti-terrorism war in the Northeast and other operations. So many Nigerian military personnel like Akinleye had in the past 5-year committed suicide.
In November 2023, a Nigerian Army captain, Alphonsus Alexander Kalthy Bazza, killed himself in Akwa Ibom State. The deceased, who left behind some notes, said he had a frustrating relationship with his commander at the army base. He had stated in one of the handwritten notes that when funds for the last general elections were given by the commander, the boss held to “my own and insisted he was going to send mine to my wife. Who does that?”
