A Nigerian Navy personnel, Warrant Officer Balogun Olu, has been accused of physically assaulting a housewife in the presence of her husband during a dispute involving a car mechanic at Gowon Estate, Egbeda, Lagos State.
The victim’s husband, Jacob Ipogah, told SaharaReporters on Friday evening that the incident occurred earlier on Friday when he went to plead with the naval officer on behalf of a mechanic who had failed to immediately refund money paid for a faulty car jack repair.
According to Ipogah, the mechanic had been engaged by Balogun to fix a car jack but, after over a week of work, the part was still not functioning properly.
The naval officer reportedly demanded an immediate refund.
“The mechanic said he did not have the money at that moment and begged for time till the end of the month,” Ipogah said. “He came to me for help because he had worked on my car before.”
Ipogah explained that he contacted a friend who is also a Navy warrant officer, asking him to accompany him to plead with Balogun.
However, the friend said he was heading to work and advised Ipogah to go alone, adding that if the officer refused to listen, he should call him so he could intervene over the phone.
“When I met him, I explained calmly that the mechanic needed time till the end of the month because he couldn’t take other jobs while working on his car,” Ipogah said.
“Instead of listening, he became aggressive and insisted that the money must be paid immediately.”
He explained that Balogun threatened to take the mechanic to the Navy barracks or a police station, boasting that “in the Navy, they don’t follow police procedures.”
Ipogah said he then attempted to call his Navy friend and pass the phone to Balogun, but the officer refused to speak with him.
“At that point, my wife calmly intervened and said, ‘Oga, please calm down so this issue can be resolved peacefully,’” Ipogah said.
“He got angry and asked why my wife was talking. He pushed her and slapped her. He slapped her again in my presence and would have continued beating her if people around had not intervened.”
Following the assault, Ipogah said he reported the matter at the Navy office in Gowon Estate, Egbeda.
However, he alleged that the response from naval authorities was dismissive.
“The barracks chief who attended to the matter is Warrant Officer Haruna,” he said. “They only asked Balogun to apologise to my wife. They even blamed her and questioned why she got involved. One of them said when men are talking, women are not supposed to talk.”
Ipogah described the response as unacceptable, stressing that his wife was assaulted simply for trying to de-escalate the situation.
“My wife was beaten just for speaking politely and trying to calm things down,” he said. “That is why I decided to formally report this and seek justice.”
When SaharaReporters contacted Warrant Officer Balogun Olu for his reaction, he reportedly responded in Yoruba, saying “kò o ṣi dànù” (get out of here), before abruptly hanging up. Subsequent calls to his phone were declined.
