Sometime in August 2021, Maryam who currently resides in a Nigeria Airforce (NAF) base in Northern Nigeria, was harassed on her way to work.

Maryam narrates how she was harassed below in her own words:
I was rushing to work when an officer in uniform caught up and told me that, someone at the gate was “greeting”. To which I replied, “oh, I did not hear. I’m late for work.”

“Do you know him?” She asked.

“No,” I said.

She looked at me funny. “Really?”

“Yes. I do see him at the gate but I do not know him and I complimented her uniform, she did the same, thanked me and we went our separate ways.

I make it a point to acknowledge essential workers. Not because I owe them anything but because I just might be making someone’s day. As is usually the case at all military bases in Nigeria, one is stopped at the gate and interrogated. If you are lucky, nobody pays you any heed and you pass. If you are unlucky, you are stopped, harassed, not asked any of the relevant questions, then granted entry. I was the latter on that uneventful day.

Harassed for not greeting
I had already started answering questions from the officer on duty(whose face was hidden behind a mask) when a maskless officer interjected.

“Come, are you not the girl from the morning who refused to greet you and when they call you, you say you are late for work?”

“Yes, I was late for work.” I replied.

“Because you are late for work you cannot come and greet.”

He went on to insist that I hadn’t greeted them that evening too. I stood my ground that I had, because he did not hear does not mean I did not. It was at that moment that my blood started boiling and I wanted to ask him if I worked for him but I maintained silence, giving him a chance to change his line of questioning. He, of course, did not, carried on harassing me.

“Where was it written that I have to greet you every time I pass here?”

“It was not written but it is culture!”

Seeing that he had no right to make such unfounded claims, I replied, “Well, it is not my culture.”

“You have no manners.” He started softly, but with every repetition, his voice rose. And to every repetition I replied, ok, ok and ok.



Thus followed the threats and accusations, since intimidation did not work.



“I will stop you from entering this base. I will report you!”

“And I will not enter. But I will call my guardian, they will come pick me up right before your eyes and I will enter this base.”

“I will beat you up! Are you a soldier? I will beat you up! Watch the way you talk to me. You cannot say sorry?”

“What did I do wrong? Tell me and I will apologise but I will not apologise for doing nothing .”

Officers using offensive language
And that was when a third soldier interjected, “I don’t care about your fucking greeting but it is courtesy when you come here.”

“Why are you using an offensive word on me?”

“I don’t care about your greeting.”

“If you don’t care about my greeting, why are we having a whole conversation about it?” While he was barking his own line of threats a woman came to ask what was happening and I led her aside. But she was determined to make me learn too. “See, don’t start what you can’t finish.

“No, they started it and now I have to finish it.”

I narrated the whole story to her; at first she was unwilling to listen to my side until I asked her if her colleague was doing the job he was assigned well. How is it that he could recognise my face several hours later, given the number of faces they see in a single day? Are they there to nurse resentments or to guard and protect?”


Click the link below to read full article :
https://newsroundtheclock.com/how-i-was-harassed-at-naf-base-by-an-officer-in-uniform/

Osunde61652:
Read below it

I dey find car to drive on bolt,you fit find work instead of this thing you dey do.

Osunde61652:
Read below it

you no dey taya?

The lady is very rude

You stay in a military barrack and you are complaining of harassment by men at gate. It’s a normal thing in every barrack
So calm down Maryam

Nice write up

The major difference between the Nigerian military and the other terrorists is just the uniform and government backing, the military enjoy. In civilised countries, military dont flex their muscles at civillians but here, they want you to see them and start trembling or prostrate

Afamsi:
The major difference between the Nigerian army and the other terrorists is just the uniform and government backing the army enjoy. In civilised countries army dont flex their at civillians but here they want you to see them and start trembling or prostrate

NAF is different from NA..
She was harassed by NAF nt NA

Mariam.

You were rude basically because you stay with one oga that senior those at the gate.

So you think you can disrespect them cus u see them as a security guard

DryMouth:

NAF is different from NA..
She was harassed by NAF nt NA

You right, I meant to say Nigerian military