USA Africa Dialogue Series - Soldiers' shameful onslaught on BRT buses

Soldiers' shameful onslaught on BRT buses


KAYODE KETEFE


One of the sad eccentricities which characterise our practice of public governance in this part of the world was once again spawned with all its attendant shame last Friday with the report of the onslaught by some armed soldiers on the Lagos government-owned Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) buses. The report had it that one of the buses had accidentally hit and killed a soldier who was illegally plying the route exclusively meant for BRT buses at the Palmgrove bus stop, Lagos.
After this unfortunate accident which ought not to have happened anyway if everybody had kept to sane conducts and conscientious use of the road, the soldiers mobilised themselves to avenge the killing of their colleague. These soldiers whipped themselves into a crazy frenzy as they turned into a lawless mob, baying for blood and yearning for destruction.
In the twinkle of an eye they had grounded both human and vehicular movements along Ikorodu road, Lagos, after which they started vandalizing and burning any BRT vehicle on sight in mad rampage in which several innocent commuters were also injured.
Now, one may ask what kind of people we have in the Nigerian Army who think it is proper, civilised and orderly for them to be fighting the citizens and destroying public properties simply because they are angry. What exactly is the kind of thinking and mindset that construes the camaraderie of a tiny subset of population to be greater than the interest of the whole nation?
What socio-political logic raises the es spirit de corps in the Army institution above the weal of the entire society? This writer had once witnessed a scene where a driver was severely beaten up by four soldiers and then forced to drink water from a nearby gutter! His offence? He refused to give their boss right of way which they believed was their birthright.
Well, sad as it is, this kind of bizarre happenings has become a kind of subculture within any institution trusted with power in Nigeria. The latest occurrence involved officers of the Nigerian Army, but there have been instances where the police officers, too, took law into their hands to settle "institutional" score against the insult posed by the "bloody civilians" At times, it would be federal law enforcement agents taking on state law enforcement operatives. This shameless behaviour shows how we have misunderstood the concept of power. Climax to this insanity is often reached climax when different arms of law enforcement agents confront each other in battle of supremacy, as evinced in many police/army clashes. In some of these forces' internecine wars, firearms procured with tax payers' money were freely used, leading to injuries and casualties, even among innocent passers-by.
An example of unprovoked attack against innocent citizens was easily afforded by the case of a young lady, Uzoma Okere, who was beaten and stripped naked by six armed naval ratings attached to a Rear Admiral, Harry Arogundade, in scandal that provoked nationwide reactions and condemnation in 2008.
Another example involving the onslaught by soldiers on a fellow law enforcement agent was the case of an official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Mrs. Obase Mordi, who was said to have lost her six-week-old pregnancy after she was beaten on August 27, 2011, by naval ratings. Her offence? she was accused to have insulted the wife of senior soldier! She said "When they learnt I am an EFCC officer, they even increased the beating"
Now why is our society like this? The problem goes to the root of orientation. Most of our law enforcement agents are not properly-educated and oriented in their training before being given uniforms and firearms, thus they tend to muddle up the philosophy behind their existence. The army was created to protect the territorial integrity of the nation against external aggressors, the police was created to prevent commission of crime, investigate them when they occur and arrest and prosecute the offenders, others agencies have defined roles and functions. All these institutions claim they have internal disciplinary procedure to re-orientate their erring members, yet culture of impunity occurs with regularity that makes mockery of any such disciplinary mechanism.
What is there in an African man that predisposes him to misuse the power entrusted into his hand? To many Nigerians, power is utilizable only for parochial aggrandisement of whoever wields it. We really need to learn the meaning and imbibe the essence of intertwining concepts of "responsibility" and accountability and contextualised the notion of power and its utility within them.
This writer will first appeal to the Army authorities to allow us to enjoy our hard-earned democracy and its attendant freedoms and liberties, by keeping all their mad incorrigible dogs in the barracks. Secondly, an appeal is hereby being sent to the Federal Government who controls the Army to investigate this highly embarrassing development and bring all those found directly or remotely connected with it to book. This should not be too difficult, there were said to be people who recorded the destructive orgies of the soldiers with their camera phone. These could be asked to submit their recordings to a central pool purposively created for forensic analysis as they do in the United States.


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