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A soldier, attached to the 144 Battalion’s Forward Operation Base (FOB), located at Ngwa High School, Abayi, Aba, Abia state has committed suicide.
It was gathered that the incident which happened Saturday, left soldiers at the base in shock as they wondered what could have led their colleague who was billed for retirement from service in October 2024, to take his life.
The soldier, a senior non-commissioned soldier, Command Sergeant Major identified as Vitalis, and hails from Okpala in Ngor-Okpala council area of Imo State, shot himself in front of the FOB gate.
No reason has been given for the suicide in front of the military facility as he was said to have left no suicide note.
Military sources stated that until the soldier’s death,there was no known case of domestic violence or work related disciplinary action against him by the military authorities at the 144 Battalion or 14 Brigade headquarters, Ohafia, respectively.
It was alleged that the soldier had disappeared without any trace for the past two weeks. Attempts to trace his whereabouts by colleagues and the Army authorities were said to be unsuccessful.
Reports that he was declared wanted for going AWOL for two weeks by the authorities of the 14 Brigade Ohafia, could not be confirmed
However, he was alleged to have returned to the FOB and shot himself to death.
The Army Public Relations Officer,(APRO) 14 Brigade, Ohafia, Lt. Prince Innocent Omale did not respond to inquiries on the incident as at the time of filing this report.