Man Brutally Beaten By Nigerian Army Cadets For Allegedly Complimenting A Female Cadet Recounts His Ordeal
BY SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORKFEB 06, 2016
Sunday
Amari, a 25-year old man brutally beaten by several Nigerian Army
cadets in Abuja for complimenting a female army cadet, has given
SaharaReporters a full account of his ordeal. SaharaReporters first
released the video of the gruesome beating of the man, and the video
quickly went viral. In the video, a female cadet from the Nigerian
Defense Academy (NDA) in Kaduna is seen slapping, smacking and kicking
the victim, with other female and male cadets soon joining her to
brutalize Mr. Amari.
In an interview today, Mr. Amari told
SaharaReporters that the assault took place on December 31, 2014 at the
Jabi Lake Park in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, where he serves as a parks
and recreation officer. His account contradicts a claim by the Nigerian
Defense Academy that the attack happened in Lagos. Mr. Amari stated that
the cadets attacked and nearly killed him while he was at his duty
post.
He disclosed that he was not the original victim of
the violent cadets, who included two females and seven males. According
to him, the cadets’ first victim was another man seen at the end of the
video. He revealed that the cadets had
brutalized the first victim to the extent that the man may have suffered
serious brain or nerve damage.
Mr. Amari, who is
fondly called “Sunny,” said the unruly cadets set upon him for fear that
he might report their atrocities. He said he was carrying out his duty
of moving around the park to ensure that everything was in order when he
saw the nine cadets around 4 p.m. beating up a civilian. He said he
walked towards the cadets and their victim out of curiosity.
According
to him, the cadets then beckoned on him and asked why he was looking at
them. Before he could speak, they descended on him and gave him a
brutal beating even as he pleaded with them that he was a recreation
officer at the park. He revealed that at least five of the cadets
participated in beating him until he passed out. He said he was left
for dead, adding that a kind stranger took pity on him and conveyed him
to the hospital where he spent a week recuperating from his serious
injuries.
Mr. Amari, who
hails from Opoko local government area of Benue State, said he had
reported the assault to the cadets’ director, a retired military
officer, who told him nothing could be done since his attackers were
military cadets.
The Nigerian Defense Academy (NDA) in
Kaduna has issued a series of tweets claiming that the assault happened
in Lagos while the cadets were on break, adding that the affected
cadets would be punished. The NDA did not respond to emails from
SaharaReporters seeking information on the identities of the cadets who
took part in the horrifying beating of Mr. Amari.
http://saharareporters.com/2016/02/06/man-brutally-beaten-nigerian-army-cadets-allegedly-complimenting-female-cadet-recounts
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