Army Chief must punish rampaging soldiers or resign The show of shame last Friday by some soldiers in Lagos was true to character. The bare-faced denial by the military that it was not soldiers but Lagos street urchins (popularly known as “area boys”) that burnt some BRT buses and beat up passers-by was also typical of the Nigerian Army. Reports have it that during the morning rush hour on Friday, July 4, 2014, a soldier riding a motorbike on Ikorodu Road died (either hit by a Lagos BRT bus or via collision with a broken down bus.) Some soldiers who saw the accident victim called for reinforcement, and dozens of soldiers arrived at the scene. They blocked the road and caused a six-hour traffic jam. They seized the BRT buses in sight, smashed their glasses, punctured their tyres, and set some ablaze. They beat up passers-by who tried to record their shameful act, but fortunately some people still succeeded in capturing the soldiers “in action.” By the time they were done, six buses were burnt and many vandalised. Many people were injured. Quickly, the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Olajide Laleye, believing that public relations is synonymous with twisting of facts, said that the destruction was not done by soldiers but “area boys” who took advantage of the situation. According to the army, the soldiers were only at the site of the accident to seize the bus and take it to their barracks. The army should have added that while the soldiers were seizing the bus, “area boys” were destroying and burning the buses, while the soldiers watched. Or, maybe the “area boys” came in military uniform to cause the mayhem, while the real soldiers watched the show helplessly. Or, was the army spokesman indirectly calling the soldiers who executed this shameful act “area boys”? On October 4, 2005, a policeman was arresting the driver of a bus around the Ojuelegba area of Lagos. A soldier (most likely in mufti) was in the bus. (A Nigerian Police officer would not disturb a vehicle if there is a soldier of whatever rank in it, because of the above-the-law track record of Nigerian soldiers.) Probably, there was an exchange of words between the police officer and the soldier in mufti. The soldier felt slighted that the policeman insisted on arresting the driver. He went into Abalti Barracks, close to Ojuelegba Bus Stop, and got other soldiers. Onward they went, marching as to war. They descended on Area C Police Command not very far from Ojuelegba Bus Stop. All hell was let loose. They beat up police officers, shot randomly, and at the end of the ensued hoopla, the Area C headquarters lay in ruins, razed by fire. A police officer – father of DJ Humility of Rhythm FM and STV Lagos – was reportedly beaten and thrown down from the second floor. He died later. Other people lost their lives in that operation. While viewers watched on Channels TV as the soldiers chanted and moved from Abalti Barracks to Area C to cause the mayhem, the Nigerian Army immediately denied that Nigerian soldiers were involved in the attack. Those who lost their lives never got compensated, neither was there anything to show that the soldiers were punished. In 2008, the video of a young lady, Uzoma Okere, who was molested by naval ratings in Victoria Island, Lagos, went viral. For daring not to scamper off the road when the convoy of “His Naval Majesty”, Rear Admiral Harry Arogundade, was passing, she got the beating of her life and was stripped naked. Luckily, someone videoed the ugly incident. She pursued the case in court and got justice. On July 25, 2005, a commercial motorcycle rider (Peter Edeh) hit the rear of the car of a naval officer, Lt. Felix Odunlami, on Allen Roundabout, Ikeja, Lagos. As the officer came out of the car to see the damage to the car, the rider went down on his knees, begging. When a man kneels to beg another man in public, what could be more humbling than that? Yet, Odunlami pulled out his pistol and shot Edeh in the mouth and killed him. How callous could a person get? If he wanted his car repaired, why didn’t he seize the man and his bike, pending when he had paid for the repair? And by the way, how much damage can a bike cause to a car with the rider not dead or covered in blood? Most likely, that car would be a Peugeot car the Federal Government gave to military officers to make them feel happy, without giving the same gesture to police officers. These are just a few instances of the treatment Nigerian soldiers mete out to other Nigerians. To them, all of us, including the police, are “bloody civilians.” It does not matter if you are older than the soldier or would have been the soldier’s senior if you had joined the military. The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, must ensure that both the officer who sent out the soldiers and all those involved are punished for the public to see. Part of the punishment should include demotion by at least one rank and the deduction of a stipulated amount of money from their salaries for one year. The money will not be enough to pay for the destroyed buses, but it will send a message that soldiers are not supposed to be lawless. Soldiers are not law enforcement officers. If a soldier is knocked down, it is not the duty of soldiers to troop out of their barracks after the vehicle or culprit. The army should report to the police. If they want to ensure that prompt action is taken, they may accompany the police, not to participate in the arrest, but just to witness it and report back. The lawlessness of soldiers has made it impossible for civilians to help a soldier who has been knocked down or shot. Once a thing like that happens, rather than help the soldier, all passers-by would run away from the scene for fear of being molested or killed by other soldiers that will come to the scene later. That soldiers have guns is not a licence to be lawless. We live in a society with laws, not a jungle where might is right. The same soldiers that could not face the Niger Delta militants during the tenures of Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Umaru Yar’Adua – to the extent that Yar’Adua had to offer amnesty to the militants – are the ones that haughtily intimidate unarmed civilians, thinking that it is a display of strength. The same soldiers that cannot rout Boko Haram in four years bully civilians with bravado. Those of us who have defended the military in the face of condemnation over their handling of the Boko Haram insurgency feel very disappointed when they display such lawlessness. When Nigerian soldiers use the guns provided by the nation to terrorise civilians, what should they be called? Fifteen years after the end of military dictatorship, it is sad that this shameful attitude still persists in the military. It shows that whatever orientation the soldiers get in their barracks is fundamentally unhelpful. Apparently, our soldiers are groomed not to respect any other person except their superior officers. That shows that contrary to the belief our soldiers are disciplined, they are not. If your child respects only you (the parents) but disrespects every other person, can you call that child respectful? Can you also say that you have succeeded as a teacher to your child? Therefore, the military hierarchy must change whatever they teach the soldiers. It is anti-civilian. The military communications department should also be taught the difference between falsehood and public relations. Dishing out blatant falsehood is a sign that the military has no regard for the public. If in a week, Minimah does not show the nation the concrete thing he has done to punish those behind this national embarrassment, he should resign and allow someone else to bring true discipline into the Nigerian Army. Enough is enough!
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 14:00:54 +0000
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