Soldiers beat Redeemed pastor into coma

A pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Abuja, Alex Ochienu, said he was assaulted and beaten by two soldiers into a coma for refusing to obey their order to do frog jumps.

The cleric alleged that he was flogged by Cpl. M. Dankwa and his colleague whose name he did not know, until he collapsed and was rushed to the Gwarimpa General Hospital where he was admitted at the Emergency ward.

The civil engineer said he was supervising construction works at Paradise Estate, Life Camp, Abuja when the soldiers invaded the site with officials of the Development Control Department and assaulted him and other workers.

Ochienu told Northern City News on Tuesday that the soldiers beat him with rifle butts and kicked him in the stomach simply because he told them he could not obey their order to do frog jumps as he was fasting.

The engineer said he lost his phone during the incident which occurred on January 17, 2017 at 3pm.

Ochienu said despite his pleas to the rampaging soldiers that he was fasting, they refused to listen, but rather flogged him until he collapsed.

The cleric said he learnt the soldiers apologised to the owners of the estate “for their mistake.”

But Ochienu said he planned to take legal action against the Development Control Department and the military for the assault.