BY AUSTIN ORETTE
In a society that is based on the rule of law and hierarchy, there should be no room for any serving army officer to comment on what happened between Wike and Yerima.
It is disgraceful for any general to intimidate the public by saying that the action is a threat to national security. This is what is wrong with the military in Nigeria. They think they are a government in waiting or they are a parallel government. This grandiosity is absurd.
These statements should never be tolerated. This shows that the Nigerian soldiers do not know how to subordinate themselves to civilian authority in a democratic society.
The chief of army staff should be fired. It is wrong for him to comment on this issue and also it is wrong for him to relate this issue to national security.
What the chief of army staff has done is insubordination that requires him to be fired. Any comment on this issue should be from the Minister of Defence, not the chief of army staff.
The position of the chief of army staff suggests that the military in Nigeria is above the law and Mr. Wike should take orders from the service chiefs. No sir. The service chief should defer to the minister who has the jurisdiction here. The service chiefs should be debriefed on the relationship of the army and the civilian authority. Some of them are still living in the past.
The days where they release soldiers into the street to terrorize the citizens should be behind us. It is unfortunate. The Army chief of staff thinks, might is right. His statement shows that he does not see himself as a subordinate to civilian authority. It also demonstrates that he has no respect for the rule of law and due process. He should resign or be fired from the army.
By his utterance, he has demonstrated that he has no respect for the civilian authority. People like him should not be in the army. Their thinking is anachronistic to our present time. Any officer having this kind of ego should go to the Sahel.
In the days of yore, this Army chief would have released soldiers into the street to harass citizens. In a civilian regime, the army should be seen and not heard. The army in the past poured into the street when a drunken soldier was hit by a vehicle. Instead of rendering help, they started beating people and burning cars. None of those soldiers were disciplined during the military regimes.
No soldier was punished for the rape and destruction that took place at Fela’s house. For more than three days, soldiers at Jaji poured into the street, beat up and destroyed cars belonging to citizens because a drunken soldier was hit by a vehicle.
It is our responsibility as citizens and leaders to change the mindset of the Nigerian military that has been distorted by military rule. Their primary duty is to defend the Republic, with arms, from external aggression.
Their constant aggression against the Nigerian citizens must be stopped. The Nigerian military goes into villages and shoots without asking questions.
Recently they went to a village in Delta state, terrorized and killed villagers who were sleeping. At this point of writing, no soldier involved in that exercise has been disciplined.
Enough is enough. In our democracy, we should hear from the minister of defence, not the Chief of Army staff whose language is a veiled threat to our democracy.
He should be fired. What he said is disrespectful to the minister.
What every Nigerian should understand is that no matter how they feel about that altercation, Officer Yerima is not supposed to be at that site. His presence there was unofficial and illegal.
Would Officer Yerima have gone there if the place does not belong to a retired general? Do serving soldiers take orders from retired officers? Would Officer Yerima and his platoon be polite if the occupant they met was not the minister but a citizen minding his business? They would have given him the Nigeria army treatment which comprises assault and false imprisonment which is the MO of the Nigerian army.
We must stop this abuse of citizens by members of the Nigerian army. They are enlisted to serve and protect Nigerians. Due to the breakdown of military discipline during the dark days of military dictatorship, they consider themselves above the law and want to resolve legal issues with intimidation and assault. The breakdown of military discipline also coincided with citizens being mentally disarmed to use the law for protection.
What the soldiers do to citizens in Nigeria is an aberration. They call us bloody civilians. Why? If we want our democracy to survive, we must teach our people their rights. Under normal circumstances, in peacetime, enlisted men should not be seen in the cities unless they are there for special duties with clear rules of engagement.
What was the rule of engagement for Officer Yerima? What national assignment was he carrying out at that location? I sincerely believe that in spite of his reputation. Mr Wike went to this level because he has seen how uniform officers don’t think the law applies to them. He may have also noticed that the generals in the army are not subordinating themselves to civilian authorities in the process of our democratic governance.
It is time we start thinking of a reserve army. We can start by making all youth corps members undergo compulsory military training for six months. The only reason why the army threatens our national security with a coup is because they have a monopoly of weapons.
For our democracy to grow, we must abolish this monopoly. The citizens should have the right to bear arms. Enough is enough. Respect begets Respect.
…DR ORETTE WRITES FROM HOUSTON TEXAS
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