Unprovoked attack on journalists inside their Umuahia secretariat, Abia State by soldiers of ‘Operation Python Dance’ and the heightened tension sequel to their deployment underscore most poignantly, some of the potent dangers in the exercise.
Soldiers, ostensibly on a show of force, stormed the secretariat of journalists beating them up and smashing their working equipments including phones and I-pads. They claimed they saw some of them taking pictures of their convoy.
But we are told it is a show of force. And when you display force in public, is there still anything to hide? If the display of force is for the public to see the readiness of the military to confront any threat to public peace, what difference does it make if such information is further made available to others outside the vicinity of the action by the media? We raise this to highlight the incongruity of the soldiers’ action and the dangers in the current posturing of the military campaign in the South-east.
Good enough, the army apologized for the excesses of their men even before the September 15 advertised date for the commencement of the exercise. Given that the so-called operation python dance was billed to commence on September 15, what campaigns were the soldiers involved in skirmishes penultimate Sunday at Nnamdi Kanu’s country home and those that attacked journalists last Tuesday prosecuting?
It is vital for this riddle to be resolved for the public to really appreciate what is really going on in the South-east. Was the action of the military well ahead of the planned Operation Python Dance part of it or a precursor of what to expect? The army has to provide answer to this given conflicting accounts of what transpired at the home of Kanu on that Sunday. The army denied attacking or killing anybody. It claimed suspected IPOB militants blocked the road against troops of 145 Battalion on a show of force along FMC-World Bank Road, Umuahia; insisting they would not pass and started pelting stones. Troops according to them, fired shots in the air to disperse the crowd.
But the account of the state police commissioner ran thus “what happened was that the military was parading a new armoured carrier and passed through Kanu’s residence. It was while they were passing that some people threw some stones and other things at them”.
However, video clips on the incident showed a military tank and other vehicles at the residence of Kanu moving back and forth. Several gunshots boomed at the background while some youth, presumably IPOB members with sticks and stones hauled some pebbles at the military tank. A young man seen with deep wound on his leg soaked in blood was being assisted by some youth who claimed he was shot by the army.
It was not clear whether the shooting preceded the hauling of pebbles or the vice versa. But what seemed apparent was that the skirmish took place in front of the residence of the IPOB leader. And prior to this, there was tranquillity within the area.
When the military launched the first version of this exercise between November and December last year, it said the objective was to tackle armed robbery, kidnapping, violent crimes, herdsmen-farmers’ clashes and violent agitations. But this time, the word violent was dropped from agitations, thus conveying the impression that even lawful and legitimate agitations were some of the targets of the operation.
Little wonder the current conduct of the soldiers and public apprehension at the sight of the armada amassed in the South-east. Many have questioned the propriety of deploying sophisticated military arms and ammunition to fight the societal ills for which the military sought to justify the operation. There have also been opinions that our laws do not permit the use of the military for functions that ordinarily should be the statutory responsibility of the police.
Issues have also been raised as to whether the President has the powers to deploy the military in such a massive way without the approval of the Senate. Even in the case of the Boko Haram insurgents that were clearly waging a military warfare against the Nigerian government, former President Jonathan got the approval of the Senate before declaring the partial state of emergency that enabled him to deploy troops to that area.
So why are extant rules of organized conduct being observed in their breach even on issues of non violent agitations for self-determination that are still within the competences of the police force? We raise this question because the posturing of the military in the current exercise is loaded with frightening prospects of rupturing peace and escalating tension and clashes between the soldiers and the civil populace.
Given the temperament of the military as we have seen in the unprovoked attack on journalists, there is everything to expect the situation will degenerate if they continue to show force the way they are going about it. Already, allegations of killings, inhuman treatment, abuse of human rights and scant regard for rules of engagement have been traded. Ethnic clashes and reprisal attacks have also been reported in Rivers, Kaduna and Plateau with Abia and Plateau states declaring dusk to dawn curfew.
Unless the overall objective is to escalate tension and find excuse for what the army knows best, utmost caution and restraint must be applied in the on-going campaign. It is very delighting the army apologized to journalists attacked by their men with a promise to replace their damaged equipment and punish the offenders. The way things stand, the deployment of troops in the South-east and the conduct of the soldiers have escalated tension and suspicion among the distinct groups that hitherto co-habited resulting to attacks and counter attacks.
A situation that has compelled law-abiding citizens to nurse genuine fears on the safety of their lives leaves a sour taste in the mouth. The right thing to do in the circumstance is for the soldiers to be withdrawn immediately to enable the police being deployed to the states to maintain the peace.
The operation has also been queried given what appears its very selective nature. Armed robbery, kidnapping and sundry crimes for which reasons the deployment has been rationalized, are by no means on top of the scale in the South-east. Neither is agitation for self-determination or threats of it limited to that zone. Constant killings, despoliation of communities and raping of women in their farms for which armed Fulani herdsmen are notorious, especially around the North-central have not attracted this manner of military deployment. Yet, they operate with the sophistication of well organized insurgents. This has given cause for suspicion of bias.
Even then, military checkpoints have since remained a regular feature at the entry and exit points of states in the south-east zone. It would appear the body language of the government is that the new phase of Operation Python Dance is primarily targeted at those agitating for self-determination especially the group led by Kanu. The army has reacted to video clips depicting soldiers dehumanizing IPOB members in the most chilling manner with a promise to investigate the report. It calls for independent investigations.
Former President Obasanjo had at a recent workshop on “preventing violent extremism” attributed the escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency to a disproportionate use of the ‘stick’ rather than ‘carrot’. And in an interview with the BBC last week, he said Boko Haram started from a position of gross underdevelopment and youth frustration and as such, we must be treating the disease and not the symptom. Buhari should find answers to the objective conditions that propel these agitations and address them rather than muzzle and drive dissent underground.
