Over 2,500 Sign Petition To Release Female Soldier

Over 2,500 Nigerians have signed petitions demanding the release of female soldier Sofiyat Akinlabi, detained by the Nigerian Army for accepting a corp member’s marriage proposal.

The Army said the gesture flouted its rules and code of conduct.

Army authorities had disclosed that the now-detained female officer would be punished for violating extant military laws by getting involved in a public display of relationship with a paramilitary trainee – a corps member.

The decision of the Army sparked mixed reactions, with many Nigerians taking to social media to express their displeasure.

Publisher of SaharaReporter Omoyele Sowore had vowed to get justice for the embattled female soldier.

He created a petition demanding her release.

He said: “We are asking the Nigerian army to release a 24-year-old female soldier, Private Sofiyat Akinlabi, who has been detained by the military after she accepted this innocuous marriage proposal from her fiance and youth corp member at the orientation camp in Kwara state.”

Sowore alleged that the Army authorities denied Sofiat’s family members access to her and refused to provide her with food, sanitary materials, and medical care at the military cantonment in Sobi Barracks, where she is being held.

These claims could not be independently confirmed.

He said: “The young female soldier is been detained under unhealthy conditions in a ‘guardroom’ reportedly meant for male soldiers, according to her family.

“She has been penalised and facing seven counts of misconduct, according to family members, who fear for her safety.”

Similarly, two groups, the Concerned Nigerians and the Women Empowerment and Legal Aid (WELA), also petitioned the Army authorities, demanding the release of Sofiat.

The Convener, Concerned Nigerians, Comrade Deji Adeyanju, condemned the continuous detention of Sofiat.

The Nation gathered that about 1,779 have signed the petition created by concerned Nigerians while 1,167 have signed the petition created by Sowore.

However, calls are already being intensified for more Nigerians to sign the petition as a way of registering displeasure against the actions of the Nigerian Army and to also take necessary legal steps to secure her release.

Sowore had posted many photos of male soldiers proposing to their fiances in uniforms.
He described the Army’s action as pre-colonial era-like and “patriarchal”.
“She (Akinlabi) broke no laws by freely accepting a marriage proposal in uniform.

“When male soldiers do it, they are applauded,” he said.