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Tag: soldiers

  • NSCIA warns against misuse of soldiers, aviation facilities

    NSCIA warns against misuse of soldiers, aviation facilities

    The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) yesterday warned the Federal Government against misuse of military and aviation facilities.

    It faulted the reopening of Maiduguri Airport for a prominent politician to the detriment of Muslim pilgrims who wanted to use the facility for Umrah (lesser Hajj).

    To the council, it is dangerous to deploy security establishments to persecute Nigerians.

    It asked the military authorities to protect the credibility of their profession by not being partisan.

    The NSCIA made its position known in a statement signed by its Acting Director of Publicity, Muhammad K. Qasim.

    The statement said: “The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) is shocked to the marrow by media reports that the Maiduguri International Airport was made available for the use of a prominent politician yesterday.

    “This is against the backdrop of the fact that it was the same airport that was suddenly shut against Muslims recently. Despite the earlier clearance to use the airport, the Muslim pilgrims were denied flight at the eleventh hour.

    “Apart from denying the pilgrims the use of the facility, the Muslims were subjected to physical and psychological trauma as a result of their grilling by the Nigerian security apparatus. The pilgrims were subsequently forced to embark on a tortuous and agonising travel by road to Kano at odd hours.

    “That a public facility denied Muslims on pilgrimage was granted to a top politician is a proof of bad faith. It is unfortunate as it is a confirmation of the impression in some quarters that our insecurity is politicised.”

    The council cautioned the government against the deployment of military to persecute Nigeria.

    The statement added: “NSCIA warns the Federal Government that it is dangerous to use the security establishment to persecute Nigerians.

    “A situation in which religious profiling is camouflaged as part of security measures does not bode well for the country. This is a dangerous path because it has the capacity to undermine and demystify the military.

    “We urge the Federal Government to exercise caution in the discriminatory use of military and aviation facilities in order to protect the political neutrality of national establishment.

    “It is our belief that the Federal Government has enough powers, constitutionally guaranteed, to tackle its perceived enemies rather than deny tax-paying Nigerians the use of public facilities under the guise of fighting insecurity.

    “We also call on the military authorities to protect and safeguard the credibility of the profession by not being partisan. The military establishment remains the bulwark of the country as the epitome of sacrifice and agent of national unity.”

    “Under no condition should they trade their professionalism for political expediency, the type of which Nigerians have worryingly begun to observe with open-mouthed amazement.”

  • Bloodbath averted as police, soldiers clash in Anambra

    Bloodbath was averted yesterday in Awka, the Anambra State capital, following a fight between policemen and soldiers.

    A source said trouble began at the Aroma junction where the policemen posted to the roundabout to control traffic, stopped motorcyclists and demanded N1,000 each from those who did not wear helmet.

    The source said a soldier, riding a motorcycle, later got to the point.

    Said he: “They told him to park. When he was about doing that, one policeman hit him, thinking he wanted to run.

    “The young military officer (name withheld) parked the motorcycle and told them he is a soldier (although he was not wearing uniform).

  • BRT mayhem: Soldiers action irresponsible, condemnable, say activists

    BRT mayhem: Soldiers action irresponsible, condemnable, say activists

    Activists yesterday condemned the mayhem that ensued two days ago on Ikorodu Road in Lagos, when soldiers went haywire and unleashed terror on the busy 10-lane highway, burning Lagos State government-owned BRT buses.

    A BRT bus had allegedly killed an okada rider who was said to be a soldier. Following this, enraged soldiers attacked onlookers, passersby and journalists.

    According to Ayo Obe, a legal practitioner and former president of the Civil Liberties Organsation (CLO), the action of the soldiers is not right and cannot be justified under any guise.

    According to her, “We are a society governed by the rule of law and the military cannot continue to take laws into their hands.”

    She added that Nigerians have decided to live in an orderly civil society and be governed by the law; and therefore it’s unacceptable for the military to go on the rampage. She also said she expects the military to take actions and bring those behind the mayhem to order.

    She advised Governor Babatunde Fdashola to fish out the culprits using the machinery on ground. She said, “the military have clearly breached the law by their action and I don’t think this is complicated at all. It only becomes complicated if people begin to think that soldiers are above the law. Properties belonging to the Lagos State government have been wantonly destroyed and those responsible should be fished out by their superiors and made to pay for their actions. Nigeria has chosen to live in an organised civil society and that is it, except the military think, otherwise.

    In his response, Monday Onyekachi Ubani, a lawyer, said it was “clearly animalistic, uncultured, unconstitutional and an ungentlemanly behaviour to take the law into your hands, no matter the level of provocation and however powerful or big you might be.”

    He said that so long as we continue to live in a sane society, where there is room for redress under the law, you are only expected to charge a person to court for murder as this case may be, rather than embarking on such display of mayhem and lawlessness.

    He also said that “the military is an institution created by the law and it therefore sends the wrong signals every time it takes the law into its hands. Coming from an institution funded by the tax payers’ money, it doesn’t really speak well and there is no justification for it in a sane democratic society.”

    While admitting that the BRT bus drivers can sometimes get reckless, he opined that the government and the military authorities nevertheless have a responsibility to fish out and prosecute those involved in the action to serve as deterrent.

    On what the Lagos State Government should do to address the unbecoming trend, Ubani said the issue of advocacy and concensus is important here. “We need to be united in saying that this kind of action cannot be tolerated. Governor Fashola should engage the military command on this. If they don’t do anything, he should take the matter to the presidency. It can be anybody in government and we shouldn’t politicise situations like this.”

    Another Lagos lawyer, Malachy Ugwummadu, said it is unfortunate that such violent reactions are becoming perennial in the interface between uniformed security officials and civilians. He said all the statutory processes creating these security agencies of government are designed to deliberately protect lives and properties; and that “the wanton destruction of lives and properties by the same agencies for whatever reason is not just illegal but unfortunate and unacceptable.”

    Abiola Afolabi-Akiyode, Executive Director, Women Advocates, Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), said it is unfortunate that this kind of situation has continued to unfold in our society, “the reason it has persisted is because when they engage in such ugly display, nobody seems to be responsible and no kind of action seems to be taken against them.”

    Rev. Austin Emeka Nnorom, Executive  Secretary of Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), said “It is clear demonstration of the present state of the country, where it seems we still need to get the military to know that we are now in a civilian regime.”

    He said, “Such actions clearly do not show that they understand their place in the society. Right now the whole world is watching us and waiting to see how the Nigerian authorities will handle this situation. They will be looking to see how the government and the military hierarchy will handle the situation and redeem the image of both the military and the country. We also expect the military to come out with an official statement condemning the action and follow it up with an action to bring the culprits to book.”

  • Soldiers on rampage

    Soldiers on rampage

    FRIDAY’S rampage in Lagos is not the first by soldiers. Given the backwardness of Nigeria’s political leadership and the continuing breakdown of discipline in the security forces, it is unlikely to be the last. The implication, however, is that more and more, Nigeria is proving too big for those entrusted with directing its affairs to manage. The rampage is indefensible, no matter who was villain or victim. It is also a cruel assault on Nigeria’s image for soldiers to resort to self-help. Though the military has hastily denied responsibility for the chaos, a denial undermined by photographs and eyewitnesses’ accounts, Nigerians wonder just how casually our military deploys troops, or whether troops don’t even wait for orders to deploy. If they have surplus manpower to engage in wilful damage of public property, why are they still enlisting men for the Boko Haram war?

     

  • Soldiers unleash mayhem in Lagos over death of colleague

    Soldiers unleash mayhem in Lagos over death of colleague

    It was all fury at  Palmgrove,Lagos yesterday  after soldiers  seized  a  stretch of the ever busy Ikorodu Road, vandalising vehicles ,beating up motorists and commuters and disrupting traffic flow for several hours.

    Thousands of motorists and commuters  caught in the  breakdown of law and order ran  helter skelter   for their lives.Many motorists abandoned their cars.Commuters  were harassed by the soldiers and street urchins who cashed in on the situation to deprive people of  money,handsets and other valuables.

    Newspaper photographers who rushed to the scene were  also attacked by the soldiers and hoodlums.Their cameras were either seized or smashed.

    No fewer than four buses belonging to the Lagos State –owned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) were burnt and eight others vandalised.

    The soldiers were venting  their anger over the alleged killing of a fellow soldier in a  motor cycle accident at the Idi-Iroko Bus Stop on the road earlier in the day.

    They  blamed a BRT bus for killing the soldiers.

    There were two versions of how the soldier died.

    One was that the soldier rammed into the broken-down BRT bus  and died instantly.

    The vehicle was said to have been parked on that spot since Wednesday after developing a fault.

    Apparently,there was no hazard warning  to alert other road users  to danger ahead.

    The other version was that  two soldiers were  riding  motorcycle on a BRT lane when they were hit by a LAGBUS at 9 am.

    One died instantly and the other slightly injured.

    The deceased soldier was said  to be  on the back seat of the motorcycle when tragedy struck. Small motorcycles are banned from plying Lagos highways.

    Witnesses said the second soldier then rushed to a nearby barracks and mobilised his colleagues to the accident scene. About a hundred of them rushed to the scene and immediately went on the rampage.

    They were soon joined by the area boys  to unleash terror on passers-by.

    There were no deaths or injuries in the incident. The soldiers blocked the road and s gridlock soon ensued.

    Policemen looked on as the soldiers and the street urchins terrorised innocent citizens.

    Drivers and passengers inside BRT buses fled as the rampaging soldiers went for them. Passengers of smaller buses had to abandon the buses and run for their lives.

    As the traffic situation on the road deteriorated,commercial vehicle drivers hiked their fares.

    Commercial activites in and around the area were paralysed for as long as the rampage lasted  as shops and offices shut down

    Television stations broadcast pictures of the buses up in flames.  Twitter  and Facebook buzzed with comments from  residents lampooning the soldiers for their action.

    NURTW 1st BRT,the transport company which is in charge of the operation of the  Bus Rapid Transit buses plying Mile 12 to TBS route  denied  that its vehicle killed any soldier yesterday.

    Public Relations Officer of the company, Nonye Onwumere, said in a statement that the deceased soldier  ran into a stationary LAGBUS bus and died in the process.

    She said: “On Thursday night, a red LAGBUS, which is run by Mutual Assurance and marked Mo63, broke down on Ikorodu Road before Palmgrove Bus Stop. Early in the morning, around 7.15am, a military personnel on a bike, driving on top speed, ran into the stationary bus.

    “After the accident, three female and two male soldiers going to work, alighted from a vehicle to help their colleague. After seeing the extent of the accident, they gathered and became violent, stopping all BRT buses and ordering the passengers down. They beat some of the passengers and BRT personnel and then set some of our vehicles ablaze. They did not even care to know that our BRT are different from the red buses.

    “The accident, which was not caused by our vehicle, has caused enormous losses as four of the buses which are not up to a month old have been burnt beyond repair while 13 others have been seriously vandalised. We lost over N100m”

    “According to corridor supervisors at the scene, four BRT personnel were beaten and abducted by the soldiers but were later released.”

    An eyewitness who gave his name as Bade said: “  a few minutes after the incident occurred, we just saw a lorry load of armed military men. They set a BRT bus ablaze.

    “ An officer among them  who probably was averse to the action tried to put out the fire.  The situation went out of hand after another officer who was boiling with rage charged the junior officers to show what makes them different from civilians.

    “Immediately he made the statement, the soldiers   went wild , setting ablaze every BRT bus that came their way  and vandalizing several others.  They vandalized no fewer  than seven buses. They did not limit their anger to the buses alone. They also unleashed terror on innocent road users who were trying to use their Ipads, camera phones and other devices to take shots of the burning buses. Some of the victims had their devices seized and smashed by the soldiers. Others were thoroughly beaten and later released for attempting to take photographs of the scene.”

    A BRT bus driver  who preferred anonymity said he and  his passengers were  forced to disembark from the bus by the angry soldiers. “Immediately they ordered us to get down, they instructed us to frog jump. I can’t remember the last time I did such a strenuous exercise.  ”

    A  resident  who  gave his name as Sunday  berated the military for the action saying: “Even if their colleague was truly killed by a BRT bus driver, they shouldn’t have gone ahead to unleash terror on the people.   ”It was an accident which could have happened to anyone. If all of us act like this every time someone is killed in an accident, what would become of the state and the country at large?

    Spokesperson for  the  81 Division of the Nigerian Army , Lt Col OA  Ochagwub said of the development: “This morning  (yesterday) between 6:30 – 6:45am, a BRT bus knocked down and killed a soldier around Obanikoro area while on his way to the office.

    “The driver of the bus took the body of the soldier into the bus and attempted to drive away. But when the other soldiers who witnessed the incident rushed to the scene, the driver of the bus ran away with the key. The soldiers then secured the vehicle which was later towed away to safety in our custody.

    “Area boys then took advantage of the incident and started attacking BRT Buses. From observation you  will discover that, the BRT buses bunt are far away from the scene of the incident and that the BRT bus in particular that killed the soldier was not attacked nor vandalized and it is still intact.

    “Our personnel were immediately dispatched to the scene to restore normalcy. So that traffic could flow. .

  • Soldiers impound Warri/Benin bound The Nation van

    The crack-down on The Nation newspaper continued on Saturday as the June 6 consignment  for Warri and Benin axis was seized by men of the Nigerian army at Elele, Ikwerre council area of Rivers state early in the morning.

    The newspaper distribution centre at the Airport Junction, along the Warri/Sapele Road in Effurun was taken over again Saturday morning by a detachment of soldiers in two vans, a repeat of the experience on Friday.

    The driver of  The Nation’s van conveying the  Saturday edition, Chisom, had his phone and the vehicle’s key seized from the soldiers who impounded his vehicle.  .

    Giving a hint of the development, a colleague of Chisom, Uche Uka-George, who suffered a similar experience on Friday when his van was impounded by soldiers around Okuokoko, on the outskirts of Warri metropolis, said his colleague who carried the Owerri consignment for Friday had not returned till Saturday morning.

    “Today it’s Chisom Godknows, they seized his car key and his phone, nobody knows what is happening to him now because they seized his phone, nobody has been able to reach him. They held him around Elele. The Ogoni boy who went to Owerri yesterday has not returned”, Uche said.

    The soldiers who held Uche on Friday had told him that they had orders from Abuja to hold the vehicle and the paper until it was ascertained that he was not carrying explosives.

    Uche was told that  his vehicle was being held till bomb experts arrive from Benin.  The waiting  lasted from 5:40am till about 4:00pm.

  • 33 killed as soldiers repel

    33 killed as soldiers repel

    Soldiers repelled a Boko Haram attack at Kawuri village, Konduga local government Area of Borno state. They killed 31 insurgents.  Two soldiers however died.

    Kawuri is 40 kilometers from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

    The battle with the insurgents took place on Wednesday according to security sources, who said it had brought relief to the people who have been under constant attack from the sect.

    A security source, who also provided video of the clash said:

    “They did not know that we were told by some people that they saw them coming and we prepared for them. We killed 31 and some of them ran away with bullet wound.”

  • Student dies as soldiers battle Boko Haram

    Student dies as soldiers battle Boko Haram

    A student of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) was killed last Friday when the school came under fire during a clash between soldiers and Boko Haram insurgents. The insurgents had attempted to rescue their detained colleagues in the nearby Giwa Barracks. TAIWO ISOLA (300-Level Human Anatomy) reports.

    A student of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) in Borno State was killed as soldiers and Boko Haram insurgents clashed last Friday. The insurgents had attempted to rescue their detained colleagues in the nearby Giwa Barracks.

    The victim, a direct entry student, was hit by bullets in his Tafawa Balewa Hostel. He was said to have resumed a few days ago. His body was brought to the university’s Central Mosque on Saturday for Janazah prayer and burial according to Islamic rites.

    A 400-Level Adult Education student, Abdulmumini Abubakar, was also hit by a bullet while going to the campus for a lecture in a taxi. He is at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital. Other students injured in the melee were taken to the university clinic.

    Guns boomed for several hours as the university was caught in the crossfire. About 60 insurgents were killed. A deafening explosion rocked the campus during the clash. Rocket launchers fired by the sect members shattered the louvers and ceiling of the ETF Building.

    Students going for lecture ran back to their hostels when the building was hit. Those in lecture rooms ran in different directions. During the battle, the university was tense; students hid in wardrobes and toilets.

    A 300-Level Accountancy student, who was at the Science Complex when a rocket launcher hit the building, said: “We were in class when we heard a deafening sound. The hall was shaken. We even thought the explosion happened right behind us because of the bang. We all fled in different directions.”

    Students were frightened, with many thinking that the insurgents had invaded the campus. Some students ran towards the University Gate 5, which leads to Mairi, a neighboring community.

    A student, whose school bag was strapped to his back as he was leaving the campus, said: “When I heard the second explosion, I lost balance. Immediately, I took my identity card and packed all my credentials and left the campus through Gate 5. We all thought Boko Haram was on the campus.”

    A worshipper in the mosque told CAMPUSLIFE: “It was an emotional moment for us as we said prayers for him. We survived it but he did not. May his soul rest in peace.”

    A graduating female student of the university, Vera Effiong, relived the experience. “I was preparing for lecture when I heard the sound of the explosions. I did not know what was happening. I just broke down in tears. I did not know what to do or where to run to. I just lay flat under my bunk, prayed to God and confessed my sins. Then, I waited for the horror. As at that time, all my roommates had fled the hostel but I didn’t know where to run to.”

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that there were three explosions on the campus. The ETF 09 Hall was damaged by the explosions. The building was hit by bullets and grenade. One side of the hall was ripped open; there are bullet holes on the wall and metal door.

    Though no student was in the hall when it was hit by the grenade, an Anatomy student in the College of Medical Sciences, which is close to ETF Hall, said: “I was in class, preparing for a lecture billed for 8am. The explosion went off a few minutes before the lecture time. Everywhere vibrated and all of us ran out of the college.”

    Paul Archippus, who witnessed the explosion in the commercial area of the campus, said: “I was leaving the barber’s shop when the explosion occurred. Traders left their wares and fled. But nobody was affected because the explosion was on an open field.”

    While the campus was in confusion, Civilian JTF, a volunteer group of Maiduguri residents, arrived the school, with weapons, such as arrows, spears, knives and spiked sticks. They surrounded the perimeter fence of the school back gate, looking for the fleeing Boko Haram members. Soldiers manned the main gate to prevent insurgents from entering the school.

    A student living in 303 Housing Estate, a residential area adjacent to the university gate, said: “For about three hours, there was a rain of bullets on our roofs; some penetrated the ceiling. We hid ourselves under the bed to prevent being hit.”

    The halls of the male hostel were riddled with bullets. A female student said nobody could move during the gun battle. Another student, Elizabeth Alao, said a bullet landed at her hostel’s corridor. She said a female student was hit by a stray bullet.

    Social and religious activities scheduled for the day were cancelled. Occupants of Titanic Hll could not sleep. They kept vigil. Some brought their mattresses to the hostel’s entrance.

    After the incident, the university’s Chief Security Officer (CSO), Alhaji Buba Usman, urged students to remain calm, saying there was no cause for alarm. Its spokesman, Ahmed Mohammed, said the school would not be closed down, since there was no direct attack on the campus.

    As at the time of filing this report, students could no longer go for night reading because of the fear of the fleeing insurgents, who they said could come back.

     

  • Soldiers’ unpaid allowances

    Soldiers’ unpaid allowances

    •We want to know the true position of the money because we don’t want a repeat of the 2008 scenario

    After the experience of the 28 soldiers, who on July 4, 2008 protested non-payment of their foreign mission allowances by blocking Ondo-Akure Road for several hours, we would have thought that would be the last time we would be witnessing such incident. It ended up in a celebrated case that attracted the attention of Nigerians to the plight of the soldiers. Unfortunately, more than five years after, we are back to square one, with another batch of soldiers on foreign mission accusing the military authorities of the same infraction.

    This time, about 800 soldiers under the Nigerian Army Battalion from Zuru, Kebbi State, that participated in the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Sudan last year are unhappy over the delay in releasing their allowances. They say their compulsory savings for five of the six months they spent in Sudan are missing. “We were entitled to N180,000 equivalent of Nigeria’s currency; out of which they gave us one hundred dollars, which is about N17,000. The authorities were supposed to keep the rest N163,000 in a compulsory account for us. But when we went to the bank, we realised that they had paid only one month, out of six that were spent there,” a source said.

    We do not know what informed the idea of the compulsory savings for the soldiers. But it would seem to us a well-meaning initiative to ensure that they do not embark on a spending spree during their assignment so that they could have something to fall back on after. Unfortunately, the impression is being created that it could have become another avenue for corrupt enrichment. According to the soldiers, the money had been paid by the UN even before they left the country. If this is true, then it contradicts what the Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen. Chris Olukolade said. “The money is not missing; they should have patience. The authorities are working round the clock to secure the funds from the appropriate quarters and the relevant agencies and sponsors of the mission”, Olukolade was quoted as saying.

    Now, who are the “appropriate quarters and the relevant agencies” that Gen. Olukolade is talking about? Has the UN paid the money into the appropriate agency’s account in Nigeria? We need to know. If the money had been fully released to the appropriate agency in Nigeria, why were the accounts of the soldiers only credited with one month allowance?

    What is involved is hefty; with each soldier being owed about N163,000 monthly, the amount for the five months is said to be about N652m for all of them. We are concerned for two reasons: one, we know that in many government establishments, workers’ salaries are appropriated by some top executives who place such monies in fixed accounts, with a view to creaming off the interest, which is usually substantial. This is the reason why salaries are delayed in many government establishments. We hope this is not the case with the soldiers’ allowances.

    Second, the labourer is entitled to his wage, and promptly too. It is dangerous to deny people who are trained to handle arms and ammunition their legitimate entitlements. We saw the embarrassment that only 28 soldiers caused the entire military establishment in the 2008 incident. We can only imagine what the situation would be like if about 800 of them now protest over unpaid entitlements. We don’t want a repeat of such a protest which would make the military authorities accuse the soldiers of mutiny again, without addressing the cause. The Nigerian Army owes Nigerians more explanation on the matter; we want to know what exactly the situation is and where specifically the money is hanging. Fair is fair.

     

  • Army recruits 9,000 soldiers

    The Nigerian Army has begun the recruitment of 9,000 soldiers to strengthen its personnel to effectively tackle security challenges in the country.

    The Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Azubike Ihejirika, spoke yesterday on the exercise at the opening of a week-long military-civil society relations workshop in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    The Army chief, who was represented by the Chief of Army Standards and Evaluation, Maj.-Gen. John Enwusiha, said the Army would collaborate with the civil society in the war against insurgency.

    He noted that an improved relation with the civil society would enable the Army to access ideas and useful information from civilians.

    According to him, it will also enable the civil society to understand the inner workings of the military.

    Ihejirika said: “…The Nigerian Army has begun massive recruitment of soldiers to cushion the effect of the current security challenges. I have begun the recruitment of 9,000 soldiers in our various training institutions. This is with a view to meeting the desired end in terms of personnel, equipment, morale and training.

    “Let me also seize this opportunity to inform you that the Nigerian Army has intensified its effort towards re-training of its personnel to meet up the Security Challenges.”

    The Director, Civil-Military Affairs of the Army, Maj.-Gen. Bola Koleoso, said the initiative provided another opportunity for the army and civilians to rub minds.