A soldier committed suicide on Saturday after killing his wife at the Wawa military Cantonment, New Bussa, Kainji, Niger State.
The military facility, over the decade, has been known for detaining hundreds of Boko Haram suspects arrested during the ongoing insurgency in the Northern part of the country.
SaharaReporters learnt that the soldier, Femi Akinleye, a Lance Corporal, was posted to the 22 Armoured Brigade of the Nigerian Army, located within the Wawa Cantonment but was on barracks duty.
A signal revealed that Akinleye also shot dead his wife identified as Blessing around 11:30am.
It read, “SPECIAL SITREP. SITREP AS AT 111605A OCT 25. SUICIDE AND MURDER INCIDENT.* AT ABOUT 111130A OCT 25, 18NA/77/1173
LCPL AKENLEYE FEMI, A PERSONNEL OF 221BN WAWA CANTONMENT WHO WAS ON BARRACKS DUTY WERE REPORTED COMMINTING SUICIDE BY KILLING HIS WIFE BLESSING, AND FIRED HIMSELF AT 221BN CBQ BLOCK 15 ROOM 24, THEREAFTER THE BOTH REMAINS ARE DEPOSITED AT 221BN MRS MEANWHILE THE FURTHER INVESTIGATION IS CURRENTLY ONGOING TO ASCERTAIN THE CAUSE OF THE INCIDENT.”
The cause of his action is not known yet but recurring nature of such incidences has raised concerns about whether soldiers fighting terrorists are receiving adequate mental and psychological treatment.
Some of the soldiers have in the past complained about poor welfare, overstayed in a particular region and treatment by the military hierarchy.
They said they were battling with depression and post-traumatic disorder because the authorities refused to carry out a rotation.
Other Nigerian military personnel like Akinleye had in the past five year committed suicide.
In November 2023, a Nigerian Army captain, Alphonsus Alexander Kalthy Bazza, killed himselfin Akwa Ibom State.
The deceased who left behind some notes said he had a frustrating relationship with his commander at the army base.
He had stated in one of the handwritten notes that when funds for the last general elections was given by the commander, the boss held to “my own and insisted he was going to send mine to my wife. Who does that?”
In June 2023, a female officer of the Nigerian Air Force, simply identified as George also committed suicide in her place of residence at Ikeja, Lagos State.
It was reported that George, a Master Warrant Officer working at 651 Base Services Group Resident at Block T5 Flat 8 in Sam Ethnan Air Force Base Ikeja, was found dead at her home.
In March 2021, a soldier, Bello Useni, with the Nigerian Army School of Armour in Bauchi also killed himself.
In September 2020, a lance corporal attached to the Army’s 27 Task Force Brigade in Buni Gari, Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe state, committed suicide at his duty post.
In July 2020, a soldier in the Army’s 202 battalion in Bama, Borno state, killed a lieutenant who did not give him pass to visit his family.
In 2019, a soldier hanged himself in Abuja. Earlier in 2017, another soldier committed suicide after killing his superior officer.
Sahara Reporters
