Soldiers Attached To Operation Burst Beat, Extort Youths, Cut Their Hairs In Ibadan (Photos, Videos)

A group of soldiers mounting Beere and other parts of Ibadan, Oyo State capital, are allegedly beating and extorting women and men over the indecent dressing.

The soldiers, attached to Operation Burst, also cut the hairs of many young men on Sunday, November 1, 2020, and later days, thereby violating their human rights without being challenged.

According to some of the victims, the soldiers said hairstyles like afro, punk, dreadlocks are all forms of indecent dressing, so anyone with such hairstyle was dehumanized in front of the people who could only look like a toothless dog.

In one of the circulating videos online, a soldier identified as O. O. Adesina asked a woman to sit on a dusty road while using his belt to flock her back, buttocks and other parts of the body.

Also in another video, a young man was asked to sit on a dirty floor while the soldiers cut his hair with unsterilised scissors.

One of the victims who narrated his ordeal said, “I was coming back from Church today, November 1 2020, I was harassed by Operation Burst on my way home with church members.

“Just because of my hair cut which was not even bad, I was asked to sit on the floor of the road and then an army officer called O. O. Adesina took an unsterilised Scissors (and was not even properly protected according to COVID-19 protocols) and started cutting my hair the way he likes”.

Another victim who took to social media to share his awful experience said: “Hello Nigerians, it seems @HQNigerianArmy are really confused. I’m here to share my ordeal in the hands of Nigerian army today on my way coming from the church at Bodija Area of Ibadan where I had to pass Beere axis where Operation Burst under the directive of Gov @Seyimakinde stationed.

“Just like other passersby, one of them run after me and directed me to walk towards a place where two officers were seated…On getting to the stand, I told one of the officers that I don’t know why your man asked me to come to you? He replied welcome to Beere international barbing salon, that was when everything was unravelling to me because I saw one of the officers holding a scissor and I’m keeping long hair.

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“He asked me to sit on the floor which I did, he further said Nigerians can only be handled with an iron hand, that we can be likened to an animal. You can imagine such an insensitive word from a uniform man.