A succession of unsightly scuffles

Now and then, Nigeria’s chaotic and class struggles slip into the ranks of its security agencies with deadly consequences. The latest theater of unsightly power play came at the Benin Specialist Hospital where a patient brought in by some DSS officials was supposedly not promptly treated, which caused the officials to attack some persons within […]

Now and then, Nigeria’s chaotic and class struggles slip into the ranks of its security agencies with deadly consequences.

The latest theater of unsightly power play came at the Benin Specialist Hospital where a patient brought in by some DSS officials was supposedly not promptly treated, which caused the officials to attack some persons within the hospital, including policemen and other members of different Nigerian paramilitary agencies.

The hospital was to offer a different version of events, claiming that the DSS personnel was brought in dead but that his colleague refused to accept it.

It was not the first time such an ugly melee had broken out between men of sister security agencies in Nigeria and given Nigeria’s poor track record in that wise, it won’t be the last.

Godwin Emefiele, the former Central Bank governor, has become a constant visitor to Nigerian security agencies since he left office. In July, an unsightly melee broke out between men of the DSS and officials of the Nigeria Correctional Service over who should take him into custody following the order of a Federal High Court in Abuja.

In November, a policeman and a soldier each died as the soldiers and police clashed in the state, with several officers left injured.

In November, following the arrest and detention of some of its personnel on allegations of cybercrime, there was a scary confrontation between men of the Nigeria Air Force and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Kaduna.

In February, a police corporal stabbed a soldier to death in Lagos during a fight. Soldiers supposedly reprised by torching a police station.

In November, two soldiers and some policemen fought over alleged traffic violations in Ikole Ekiti, Ekiti State. The same situation was on show in January in Lagos.

Instances abound of occasions when those supposed to synergise to keep Nigerians safe chose the undignifying sport of insane and inane power tussles.

The one that readily comes to mind is poor discipline. It is an open secret that many of the men who man Nigeria’s security agencies lack discipline. This lack of discipline when wrapped in uniform has become especially pronounced and prominent in recent times.

There is also a sense in which profound frustration courses through Nigeria’s security forces. This is no surprise, given that being a security agent in Nigeria in the past eight years has become akin to signing a death warrant.

In what can only be ill-fittingly described as a pressure cooker, those who have elected to serve as security personnel in Nigeria have seen it all.

Many of them have fallen into the service of an increasingly fragile country. Many of them who have paid the ultimate price in the service of their country have seen their families abandoned upon their death.

For Nigerians who always have to look over their shoulders because they have increasingly become the fascination of terrorists, it is a matter of sickening embarrassment that security personnel who should be securing them favour fisticuffs and handbags as pastimes.

No matter the aggravation, sister security agencies should always be able to work together to contain Nigeria’s surging insecurity.

Interagency rivalry and petty scuffles only serve to cause public loss of confidence in the security agents, betraying them as unserious. At a time when Nigeria is battling on multiple security fronts, this is serious baggage to carry around.

Security personnel in Nigeria should be seen to be pointing their guns threateningly at the criminals determined to overrun Nigeria, and never at each other. The times are too strange for strange habits.

Those who enforce the law in Nigeria and maintain law and order can just be seen to pay nothing but absolute obedience to the law. This invariably includes shunning all acts that are capable of disrupting public peace and order.

 

Ike Willie-Nwobu wrote via [email protected]