By: Ifeanyi Izeze<\/p>\n
The rhetoric islocal but the message is global that there is an evolving
\npattern of behaviour ofour top military commands (particularly Nigerian
\nArmy) that is becomingcharacteristic and needs an urgent attention to
\nredress before it becomes thestatus quo.<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s nolonger just a domestic argument that the leadership of the
\nNigerian Army eitherbecause of perpetual gilts and other temptations needs
\nsome lessons on \u201cback tobasics,\u201d as the international community has raised
\nalarm on the force radical programmeeither by omission or outright design
\nto militarise Nigeria\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n
If the UK and EUgovernments that were invited by the federal government to
\nmonitor ourelections criticised the direct involvement and misdemeanour of
\narmy officersduring the election in Rivers state or any other part of the
\ncountry, is it theduty of the Chief of Army Staff\/Army spokesperson or the
\nMinister of ExternalAffairs\/Presidency to reply to those governments?<\/p>\n
It may looktrivial but it\u2019s not that the army under a democracy now talks
\ndirectly toforeign governments on issues that borders on diplomatic
\nrelations betweenNigeria and those countries.<\/p>\n
How do explainthat the Nigerian Army on its own went ahead to warn foreign
\ngovernmentsagainst interfering in what it calls \u201cNigeria\u2019s domestic
\nissues\u201d, describing astatement credited to United Kingdom, which accused
\nthe military of undueinvolvement in the governorship election in Rivers
\nState as baseless, untrueand capable of misleading unsuspected members of
\nthe public?<\/p>\n
The army in a statemententitled: \u201cRe:\u00a0 UK expresses concern over military
\ninvolvement in Riverspoll,\u201d made available to the media, by its spokesman,
\nthe Acting Director, ArmyPublic Relations, Col Sagir Musa, warned that any
\nallegation against the army byforeign governments must be confirmed from
\n\u201cappropriate quarters\u201d beforejumping to conclusions.<\/p>\n
As said, \u201cForeigninterests are, therefore, enjoined to be mindful of
\ninterfering in our nationalinternal affairs, especially when there is no
\ncredible evidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny allegationagainst the Nigerian Army must be confirmed from
\nappropriate quarters beforejumping to conclusions. The Nigerian Army, as a
\nresponsible organisation,wishes to debunk such misrepresentation in order
\nto set the record straight.\u201d<\/p>\n
The question toask is: when some of these same foreign governments and
\nobserver missions passtheir verdicts on the presidential election, did
\nthey require confirmation from\u201cappropriate quarters\u201d? And by the way, what
\ndoes the army mean by appropriatequarters- army spokesperson, Chief of
\nArmy\/Defence Staff or the Presidency?<\/p>\n
Whether the armywants to hear this or not is immaterial, the actions of
\nits personnel in breachof their conventional code of conduct in Rivers
\nState were very widespread,loud and visible as recorded in videos and
\nshared on several social andconventional media platforms. So which other
\nevidence is the army high commandlooking for before accepting that its
\nofficers and men not only intimidated andharassed foreign observers but
\nwere caught on camera hijacking ballot boxes bythemselves and also
\nprovided cover for some thugs that did the same during theelection?<\/p>\n
It is laughablethat the Army could allege that intelligence available to
\nit revealed politicalthugs wore military uniform to perpetrate crimes
\nduring both the Feb 23 presidentialelection and March 9 elections in
\nRivers state. This is a mere cover up ofoutright licentious behaviour
\nwhich is now becoming characteristic of itsofficers and men taking orders
\nfrom their command and control centres.<\/p>\n
As alleged bythe army, \u201cCredible intelligence available to the army
\nconfirmed the kitting ofpolitical thugs with military uniform and arming
\nof same to impersonatesoldiers and perpetrate various crimes in the
\nfurtherance of the activities oftheir political bosses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese thugswere wrongly viewed as real military personnel on various
\nsocial media channelsthereby bringing the reputation of the Nigerian Army
\non several occasions todisrepute. The army understands that most civilians
\ncaught in the callousonslaught of these murderous thugs might not be able
\nto distinguish betweengenuine soldiers from impersonators, especially when
\nthey were armed withmilitary-type weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n
The militaryshould tell us whether it is no longer an offence for
\ncivilians to wear fullarmy uniforms, carry guns and ride in army
\nnumber-plated trucks and pickups. Why did the genuine soldiers collaborate
\nwith (and not confront) thefake soldiers in their state wide escapades?<\/p>\n
Is the armysaying the thugs wore military uniform, carried well labelled
\nNigerian armyAK-47 and K-2 rifles and were using well-numbered army trucks
\n(Tata and Hilux)also provided by politicians? Was the GOC of the 6th
\nDivision that personallyled the team that occupied the INEC office and
\nharassed foreign and localobservers in Port Harcourt, also a fake soldier?<\/p>\n
The soldiers in vehiclesnumbering about 20 that stormed the palace of
\nAmanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom,Ateke Tom, were they also fake soldiers?
\nFive guests of the monarch werereportedly arrested and taken to Bori Camp,
\nwas that also done by fake armyofficers?<\/p>\n
The team that went to Buguma toarrest Asari Dokubo in his family home,
\nwere they fake soldiers also armed andkitted by politicians? Haba!<\/p>\n
It is curious that many Nigeriansare not seeing what is unfolding. They
\ndeceive themselves by believing that itonly happened in Rivers state and
\nsome other states in the South \u2013south,without acknowledging that it is a
\nwell-crafted template that is going tospread across the country if not
\nchecked now. Mark my word!<\/p>\n
All the observermissions, foreign and local cannot be accusing the
\nmilitary if they did notobserve involvement of soldiers in what the
\nmilitary should not be involved in.We should not forget that The EU
\nobserver mission also accused the NigerianArmy of being at the \u201ccentre of
\nvoter fraud in the volatile Rivers stateelections,\u201d Saying \u201cobservers,
\nincluding EU observers, were denied access tocollation centres in Rivers,
\nby military personnel. This lack of access forobservers compromises
\ntransparency and trust in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
The army topcommand is just insulting the intelligence of Nigerians. So we
\nnow need to askfor the identity card of a soldier before we recognize
\nhim\/her as genuine? TheNigerian Army has become a huge joke under the
\nBuratai and Buhari leadershipand the earlier we insist they go for lessons
\non \u201cback to basics\u201d, the betterfor this country and its democracy. God
\nbless Nigeria!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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