How My Missing Phone Landed Me In Trouble With The Army_Lane Cpl Mayowa

A soldier serving in the Nigerian Army, Lance Corporal Adeniyi Mayowa, has lamented how his phone, which went missing during an operation in Aba, Abia State, landed him in trouble with the Army authorities.

Mayowa, with Army number, 13 NA/70/6609, was serving at the 144 Battalion, Asa, Ukwa West council area, under 14 Brigade, Ohafia, Abia State when the incident occurred.

Trouble started for him on May 26, 2018, when he and his colleagues were sent to arrest “some hoodlums” said to be fighting at a hotel along Ehi road, Aba. On getting to the hotel, according to him, his Gionee A1 handset, valued at N95, 000, went missing.

Efforts to locate the phone, he claimed, were unsuccessful. However, he said the case of missing phone was reported at the Ndiegoro Police Division, Aba, leading to the arrest of some suspects.

“When we got to the hotel, some people were already wounded. I wanted to take a photograph of the environment; I noticed that my phone was missing. The boys denied seeing the phone. I informed my OC who asked me to take the suspects to the nearest police station.

We arrested them. At the police station, the DPO interrogated them and they denied stealing the phone. But one of the suspects admitted that one of them stole the phone and that they preferred to buy the phone.

They later contributed money to buy the phone. I didn’t collect the money from them, but they went to a phone dealer and bought the phone and did welcome back for my line”, he narrated.

The soldier told Sunday Vanguard that on July 21, 2018, he was alerted to a newspaper publication which claimed that the police and some soldiers tortured disc Jockeys over missing phone in Aba.

Following the newspaper publication, Mayowa alleged that the Brigade Commander, 14 Brigade, Ohafia, without investigation into the incident, ordered his arrest and directed him to refund the suspects and their hospital bill under duress. According to him, the Brigade Commander also ordered his detention at the military police office.

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