Stolen N400m: Army Detains Abscond Soldier’s Wife, Children

Oluwatobi Akindele

The family of Ayo Oluwaniyi, the wife of one of the soldiers, who allegedly stole N400m they were escorting, has lamented the arrest and detention of the woman and her three children by the Nigerian Army in Ondo State.

It was gathered that 37-year-old Ayo and her children were arrested after her husband, Gabriel, was identified as one of the five soldiers alleged to have stolen the money they were escorting from Sokoto to Kaduna.

A family member, who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said Ayo and her children were being detained at the 32 Artillery Brigade, Owena Barracks, Akure.

She stated that they had been denied access to family members, adding that the family was worried about Ayo and her children’s state of health.

It was earlier reported that five soldiers were confirmed to have stolen the money while on escort duty from Sokoto to Kaduna in the first week of July.

The former General Officer Commanding, 8 Division, Nigerian Army, Sokoto, Maj. Gen. Hakeem Otiki, had reportedly asked the soldiers to escort the money and deliver it to a Very Important Person in Kaduna.

The 8 Division spokesperson, Lieutenant Audu Arigu, had confirmed the incident, saying investigation had commenced and identified the runaway soldiers as Corporal Gabriel Oluwaniyi, Corporal Mohammed Aminu and Lance Corporals Haruna, Oluji Joshua and Hayatudeen Abubakar.

Army sources stated that the runaway soldiers turned in their rifles and abandoned their mobile phones at the Infantry Corps in Jaji, Kaduna State, before they escaped.

The source added that, “It’s been two weeks since Ayo and her children have been in detention. They won’t allow us to see them and they did not allow them to change clothes; they just kept on telling us that she was not being maltreated. We are worried; one of her children is just about a year old", the source said.