A popular saying has it that “Whenever Eagles condescend and begin to mingle with other birds, they will begin to partake in the consumption of the dead like vultures”. This beautiful adage has become relevantly realistic regarding the Nigerian army. It’s officers have dwelt for so long amidst the citizens outside the confines of the barracks, thus opening the vista for them to get enmeshed in series of disgusting acts of indiscipline like extortion, armed robbery, thuggery and very recently, kidnapping. Just a couple of days back, the Nigeria Police Command in Edo State, arrested twenty six (26) Nigerian soldiers for their involvement in kidnapping activities within the State and elsewhere. It should also not be forgotten in a hurry, how the officers of the Nigeria army attached to Takum military cantonment in Taraba State were found culpable in the assassination of Nigeria police officers detailed from the office of the Inspector-General of Police, Abuja, on “Sting Operation” against a Fulani kidnap kingpin in the State, sometimes in the month of August, 2019. In that bizarre raid carried out, police officers were gruesomely killed. It then became clear following detailed police investigation into the Ibi-Wukari road mayhem, that the Army Brigade Commander in criminal connivance with the notorious Fulani kidnap kingpin whom the soldiers released, were deeply involved in a joint kidnapping venture.
In the light of this ugly development over the years from supposed disciplined and professional army officers, one then begins to wonder if it is the same Nigeria army which once produced the finest and highly disciplined officers in the mould of General Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, Colonel Joe Achuzie, Major-General Alexander Madiebo, Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu and a cream of others that switched over to the Biafran side in defense of their people and fatherland during the Nigeria/Biafra war between 1967 and 1970. The Nigerian army backed by foreign allies therefrom, started churning out this present crop of soldiers whose stock in trade is premised on nefarious activities. The command structure of the army hinges on the lawless criminality of the Fulani oligarchy. It is important that the global community comes to terms with the reason why the Nigerian army has so degenerated into a den of kidnappers, armed robbers, daylight extortioners and ravenous wolves which fundamentally stem from the officers’ long stay outside the confines of the barracks. If therefore, the Nigerian Government, National Assembly and Human Right Organisations fail to dutifully compel the Nigerian army to as a matter of expediency, dismantle all the military roadblocks that litter the entirety of the so-called South-East and South-South regions and return back to the barracks, these men will metamorphose into full blown armed robbers and other hardened criminals, using state acquired arms and ammunition to perpetuate wickedness against innocent civilians.
It must be stated here that whenever such an organization is improperly engaged in appropriate national assignment within their constitutional environment, the tendency of the men and officers becoming disgusting nuisances to the society which ought to be protected and defended, will be high. The Nigerian Human Right Organisations must understand that the reason behind the delay or truncation of the Nigerian soldiers’ reckless and full involvement in kidnapping activities amongst others in Biafraland, rests on the eagle-eyed, crack Intelligence Unit of the gallant Volunteer Forces detailed by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to maintain round the clock surveillance across Biafraland, aimed at clinically eliminating crime and criminality. All those who are ignorant of the reasons why it is not yet in the news that the Nigerian soldiers are involved in kidnapping in Biafraland with demands for corresponding ransoms, is because of the unflinching pressure of the IPOB Volunteer Forces who are steadily combing the bushes and forests to ensure that there exists no safe havens for these soldiers to carry out their kidnapping activities. This pushed them into Edo and Taraba States amongst others.
The only crime being committed today in Biafraland by these occupational soldiers, is intimidation of law abiding citizens and extortion of motorists as the Nigerian evil government has inadvertently got it legalized which is being perpetrated particularly in Biafraland. The authorities concerned with the responsibility of the operational command and usage of the Nigerian army, are hereby called upon to facilitate the withdrawal of these soldiers back to the barracks. Their presence in the open society is grossly corrupting and grooming them into certificated criminals. It was never unheard of in the 1960s/1970s that a soldier was involved in armed robbery and kidnapping as it is today.
The Nigerian soldiers are seemingly redundant, loitering around in the streets and on the highways, envying the fortunes of law abiding citizens. They are being entangled with civilian pursuits and frivolities. If the soldiers could be holistically withdrawn back to the barracks and military roadblocks totally dismantled except in the troubled spots of the North comprising of such States like Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, where alarming rate of terrorism-related activities hold sway, crimes will drastically be reduced to the barest minimum in the country.
Published by:
Chibuike John Nebeokike
For: Radio Biafra Media
