By Marie-Therese Nanlong, Jos

Solomon Gyang, a native of Foron in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State has many reasons to be grateful to God.

Indeed, he is all the more grateful for his narrow escape from death in the hands of members of the Special Task Force, STF, who tortured him for three weeks for an offense he insists he knows nothing about.

The 27-year-old Solomon, a father of two who resides in Bisichi area of the local government, narrated his ordeal in the hands of the soldiers when he visited the Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalist in Jos after being discharged from a hospital in Barkin Ladi.

Speaking with Vanguard Metro, VM, he said: “I am a welder from Foron, I live in Bisichi but work at building material market. Sometime in August, after closing from work, I entered a beer parlour near my area in Bisichi. l took pepper soup and ate in a nearby restaurant. When I got home in the night, my wife told me some soldiers came to the house, demanded my whereabouts, beat her and left. I asked her what happened and she told me that she learnt that a gun was stolen from one soldier in the beer parlour I entered.”

He wondered what business he had with the missing gun since he said he didn’t take the gun but fear of arrest made him not to sleep at home that night. On his return the next day, he met his house in disarray as the soldiers came back at about 4am to search the house.

According to him: “When they came, I was not there but they scattered everything, broke the ceiling. But no gun, not even a knife, was found in my house. Within that week, I travelled to Abuja to do some work and on my return, I was arrested.

“On the 24th of August, I went to church. As I returned with my son, some soldiers met me on the way and started beating me. One of them cocked a gun and pointed it at my head, threatening to kill me if I misbehaved. I asked them what the problem was, but they didn’t tell me until they took me to the premises of one company at Bisichi. They tied my hands behind, hung me on a tree and started beating me with wire from about 1pm to 7pm.”

Solomon added that the beating continued on daily basis with the soldiers asking him to confess that he took the gun, but he insisted he was innocent and knew nothing about the said gun.

His words: “They said I should give them the gun and I told them I don’t know anything about any gun. They later took me from Bisichi to Barkin Ladi where the Commander told them to ‘waste me’ if I will not confess. At about 8.30pm on Saturday, the 14th of September, the soldiers took me, put a black nylon on my face, put me in their Hilux van to go and ‘waste me’. We were going towards a bush and I was praying fervently to God to save me because I am innocent.

“As we were going, rain started falling and since the road is bad, the vehicle could not go further, so they dropped me there and said God has helped me because they cannot do what they wanted to do.”

The victim called for urgent help for others who were arrested and are still in the custody of the soldiers, saying “they may not be as lucky as I was if help do not get to them on time.”

Solomon who said he didn’t know any of the soldiers by name but could identify them, however, maintained he has forgiven the soldiers but handed over everything to God to judge.

“They have cheated me, accused me wrongly and punished me for what I know nothing about. I don’t have anyone to fight for me, I thank God they didn’t kill me but I have handed over everything to God,” he stressed.

Although Solomon was initially treated at and discharged from the Barkin Ladi General Hospital, he is now receiving treatment at the Jos University Teaching Hospital, JUTH at the time of this report.

Lamenting the situation, Da Markus Dapam, the Village Head of Rarung who is like a father to Solomon said he is surprised at the wrong accusation and the degree of injury inflicted on the victim.

According to him: “I have known Solomon from childhood. He is not a boy that gives anyone headache; he’s a boy with good character. When we heard this thing and approached the Commander, Sector 7 who is in charge, he didn’t give us audience but thank God this boy didn’t die.”

When contacted, the spokesman of the Special Task Force, STF, Capt. Ikedichi Iweha said: “The boy in question is one of the last people who was seen with the soldier. When our men started the investigation, he ran and left the community for about two months. We are not aware of any job he is doing.

“At the time he was apprehended, the Commander was not around and the men out of annoyance got involved in the incident which led to the injuries. The boy is an orphan and nobody actually took responsibility to come for him.

“At the time his uncle eventually came forward, the Commander had returned. The Commander treated the boy himself and handed him over to his uncle who is to produce him anytime he is needed because investigations are ongoing.”

Speaking about others in detention, Iweha added: “We released the boy because we did not find any weapon in his house but the others had some locally-made pistols, so we handed them over to the Police for further investigations.”