An ex-Soldier, Victor Ochoma, has allegedly been tortured to death by some soldiers attached to a construction company in the Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The victim was allegedly a thief who stole an iron rod from the company the soldiers were attached to and sold them, he was subsequently tortured to death.
According to the Punch, Victor was a security guard with a construction company that did roads and on Sunday a man was caught with an iron rod said to have been from the company and the thief was said to have accused Victor of selling it to him.
Victor was then allegedly taken to the military base at Ahoada, where he was tortured to death and his body dumped at a general hospital.
The deceased’s half-brother, Neville said that his brother was innocent.
“He started working with the company in January 2018. We were formerly living together in Ahoada. When he got the job of a security man at the company, he moved to Ihugbogo, where the company has its office.” Neville narrated
“A man was caught with an iron rod and he said it was sold to him by a security guard. Victor was questioned, but he denied selling the rod. Other security guards on the premises fled.
“They took him to their base and tortured him from Sunday night till the early hours of Monday.
“By morning, they took him to the Ahoada Police Station. The police rejected him because of his condition. They told the soldiers to first take him to a hospital for treatment.
“Instead of taking him to a hospital, they took him to their command at Ahoada. They beat up the man they found the rod with as well, but Victor’s torture was much because he was an ex-military man.”
His family came to visit him in the hopes of coming to an amicable solution but they were denied access. When they finally got to see him he was on the verge of death.
“We met him vomiting blood in the mouth and nostrils. He had suffered internal bleeding.
“When they saw that his condition was critical, they brought their van and took him to the Ahoada General Hospital. Before we got to the hospital, he was dead. They left his corpse at the hospital, put their van in reverse and left,”
Victor’s mother, Edith Ochoma, called for the arrest and prosecution of the soldiers responsible for her son’s death.
“The boy was innocent. He cannot die just like that,” she said.