Nigerian pastor beaten by soldiers for refusing to frog jump

A Nigerian pastor was beaten by military officers after he refused to obey their orders to do frog jumps.

Alex Ochienu, a pastor of Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), was supervising the construction of Paradise Estate, Life Camp in Abuja when the soldiers entered the site on Jan. 17, accompanied by the officials of the Abuja Development Control Department.

The pastor alleged that Cpl. M. Dankwa and another soldier beat him with rifle butts and kicked him in the stomach because he could not comply with their order to do frog jumps because he was weak from fasting.

"The soldiers rushed into the site and ordered everyone to frog-jump; they flogged the workers and threatened to shoot us. I tried to explain to them that I was weak because I was fasting, but Cpl. Dankwa was infuriated by my explanation," Ochienu said, according to Pulse.

"He kicked me in the stomach; another soldier also joined in beating me till I collapsed. When they saw that I was almost lifeless, they left and I was rushed to the hospital by the workers," the pastor continued.

Ochienu was admitted to the Gwarimpa General Hospital in Abuja. He learned that the soldiers have apologized to the owners of the estate, but he said that he is planning to take legal action against the Development Control Department and the military for the assault.

Tobias Tokbe, the Paradise Estate project manager, said that he was not at the scene, but he learned that another worker was beaten by the soldiers for no reason.

He said that he immediately contacted the development control director after he learned about the beatings. He noted that the director denied authorizing the soldiers to attack anyone.

"We asked the soldier why he beat up the engineer and he said Ochienu grabbed his jacket, which we know as a lie," said Tokbe, as reported by Punch.

This was not the first time Nigerian soldiers were accused of assaulting civilians. Last April, a lawyer was allegedly shot by four soldiers after he argued with them over the right of way. Earlier this week, a soldier was caught on camera purportedly torturing a man who was accused of stealing a phone.