Army officer assaults trader at computer village

Nigerian Army personnel last Saturday allegedly assaulted a computer salesman, Maxwell Nwosu at Ikeja.

The army officer identified simply as Lieutenant Adeniji was allegedly hired by Nwosu’s customer, who bought a computer keyboard one month ago.

The keyboard was said to have developed a fault, prompting the customer to contact the army personnel, who followed him to the shop.

The military personnel was said to have pounced on the computer salesman and beat him to coma.

Narrating his ordeal, Nwosu said: “Last Saturday at about 3:00p.m., a group of soldiers led by one Lt. Adeniji, came to his shop to assault him..

“Really, the matter started purely as a civil case between my brother and a customer, who felt insulted and called his soldier colleagues (all in mufti). This issue was reported at a nearby police post and it was resolved peacefully even though we felt unfairly treated. To everyone’s surprise, these men went back, only to return with three other soldiers in uniform. The soldiers embarked on a beating spree. A customer, who was pleading on my behalf, was also beaten to stupor and thrown into the nearby gutter.

“As I speak with you, I am still taking treatments and the other man’s condition is in bad shape in the hospital because of the injuries he sustained. Many laptops and other valuables were destroyed in my office and my phone was smashed by one of the soldiers, when he saw me making a call.

“One of the soldiers, who was flaunting something that looked like a knife, threatened to stab my brother. Our office is now in total mess and our lives are in danger, all because of an argument between civilians.