MY UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE WITH MILITARY MEN

When talking about experience with military men, it usually goes both ways, although if you're from a country like mine, then the negative aspects would definitely supersede the positive. Not too long ago, we even had a nationwide protest against police brutality within the country. I've had some experience with this set of people, but none has really been favorable to me.

I've read, seen, and heard tales of how military men have harassed people due to their dressing, hairstyles, items they own, or extravagant lifestyle, but I've been fortunate not to be a victim of such, but that doesn't totally write me off their book of encounters and unpleasant experiences.

Most of the experiences I had with them were when I was very much younger; the most recent one I had was during my undergraduate days. I guess that's what I'll share with you today, but before I dive into that, I can remember how I mistakenly threw a knockout into the chest pocket of a police officer. It's commonly known as a banger in my country.  that's was the first time I ever threw a knockout and it also happen to be the last, because I was mercilessly beaten by the police men, my guardian and the parent of my friends with whom I was with when the incident happened.

Another experience I had with them was when I was arrested alongside other kids in the neighborhood while we were playing football on the street. It's an act that's very common among the police; whenever they are broke and need money, all they do is simply walk into the street and arrest all the young boys playing football, and then they'll take us to their station, waiting for our parents to come and bail us out with money. It's always better to be on bail; otherwise, they'll use one to replace a chronic criminal who has bribed them, and they'll then release such a criminal to go Scot-free.

One of the most memorable experiences I had with military personnel was with my uncle. He just concluded his military training and came back home before going back for deployment. One of those days, while he was with us, he caught me red-handed while I was trying to steal meat from the pot of soup. Believe me, that day was very terrible. He dealt with me as if I were a criminal who stole from the bank. I went from different army drills as punishment to being flogged with a strong leather belt that left bruises all over my back and neck.

Each of the above-stated experiences happened when I wasn't even up to 16 years old; that's to show how brutal military men can be when they're angry or in need of money. Those experiences taught me some lessons that stick with me to this day. Now, finally, let's move on to the last and most recent experience I had with military personnel.

When I was an undergraduate at the university, I and my friends, among whom @oluwadrey was, were broke and decided to hustle for money. Then someone told us about a skill that was newly refurbished and needed some cleaning of the dirty windows that had been stained by cement.

We went and were told each window is ₦100; since it's a story building, that means we'll all have enough to do and raise a significant amount. Though we realized the planks we were supposed to stand on weren't good, we still risked it and did the job to the best of our capacity. When we were done, it was late, and they asked us to come the next day for our wages because the person who ought to vet and pay us had already left.

We were woken up very early the next morning by the person who introduced the work to us; he told us army robbers stole from that same school during the middle of the night and we are their top suspect, so it's either we report ourselves to the nearest police station or wait till the police come with their van to embarrass us out of the neighborhood; we chose the former.

We went to the station and were asked to write down our statements individually, after which they wanted to lock us up. Before they thought otherwise when they learned we were students and our examination was to start that same day,  rather than lock us up, they took our finger prints and also asked one officer to follow us around till we're done with all of our examination.

Fortunately for us, about 5 days into our exam, the police were able to catch the real culprits, who confessed to being given the information by the school reverend mother. Because it's a Catholic school, that's how we became free and don't need to be embarrassed by policemen following us about, even into the exam hall, although it's very painful that we didn't get any apologies from the school or the policemen, and we even need to report the school authorities to the same police after the school fails to pay us our wages a week after the real culprits were apprehended.

https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/vickoly/23t76oRc3zjSnyfgC6F2V79yxUuq7CDvbvCH72sfweFTqZLzbJH6hBHqwKC3TkJ7GPGAs.png

That's about all on my experience with military men. I hope you enjoyed the read and learned a thought or two. The article was inspired by the hive learners community features prompt.

Thanks so much for your time, stay bless.