Beef up security at Army Estate Kurudu

The Nigerian Army needs to rise to the challenge of maintaining its positive image among Nigerians and not what Amnesty International wants the world to believe about our military, by hurriedly re-invigorating the security machinery at the Nigerian Army Post-Service Housing Estate in Kurudu, Abuja. Among law-abiding and decent citizens, the Nigerian Army is well-disciplined […]

The Nigerian Army needs to rise to the challenge of maintaining its positive image among Nigerians and not what Amnesty International wants the world to believe about our military, by hurriedly re-invigorating the security machinery at the Nigerian Army Post-Service Housing Estate in Kurudu, Abuja.

Among law-abiding and decent citizens, the Nigerian Army is well-disciplined and well-orgainzed establishment envied by other professions, despite the attendant risks in the dangerous profession. In my village of Orokam in Ogbadibo Local Government Area of Benue State, hardly would you find a family that has no member of the security forces, especially the Army. That testifies to the importance my people attaches to the armed forces, and would like to have their sons and daughters engaged in the job, no matter the risks involved. Now, at the Nigerian Army Housing Estate in Kurudu, Abuja, I could see a gradual erosion of the implicit confidence in the Army among citizens and residents as a result of the simmering political game between the Army authorities and the management of the estate which has deteriorated to the extent that the Army authorities withdrew soldiers earlier positioned at the gates of the estate to ensure strict security and protection of lives and property of residents and their relations. Due to personal considerations among some influential people at the estate, this disagreement is being allowed to aggravate to a dangerous dimension, thus affecting the well-being of residents. My grouse is particularly against the Army or those fronting for the Army, for allowing this crisis to degenerate to this level at a housing estate that lacks many basic amenities that should have been provided by those empowered to manage the estate all this while. This crisis I understand is between retired officers and serving ones that should ensure sanity and proper management of the estate, but instead of allowing the general interest to prevail, personal interests are being brought to the fore to make life unpleasant for residents. 

There is no reason why the crisis should have degenerated to the point of withdrawing soldiers from gates of the estate at a time when most Nigerians are becoming weary of the nefarious activities of enemies of the state, especially against organized institutions like the military. Whatever is going on should NOT affect security at the estate because at the end it goes on to tell on the image of the Nigerian Army as an entity, and not the individuals that are manipulating affairs at the estate. I am not in a position to adjudicate on the existing crisis as to apportion blames on either party, but what I detest is allowing it to degenerate to the point of undermining security at the estate by withdrawing soldiers from the gates. Whoever took that decision must have made a big mistake because we are talking about the Army’s image here and not the image of the individuals involved. 

Some may postulate that the soldiers were withdrawn to serve at other operations due to inadequate manpower; this is absolutely false because the Nigerian Army has enough men, material and might to man its locations nationwide and even beyond. I am strongly of the view that the image of the Army is one and only a priority that should NOT be toyed with. Keeping unarmed civilian guards to man a military estate inhabited by many serving and retired military officers is a simple disgrace to the Army because if anything goes wrong it would be seen as happening at an Army location, not the location of a certain individual. 

I therefore do not agree with the decision to remove soldiers from manning the gates of the estate no matter the level of disagreement between the two sides. There are many innocent residents including women and children at the estate who require round the clock protection at such a perilous period in the history of our country that one does not need to take things for granted or wait for circumstances to overtake reason before acting. Instead of playing politics with the security of lives and property of residents of the estate, those in positions that matter on this aspect should quickly rise to the occasion by increasing security at the estate. Even if other things are not provided, security should not be toyed with. It is in the light of this that I hereby urge the appropriate authorities at the Nigerian Army House Estate in Kurudu to rise to the challenge of eschewing political, pecuniary or other interests by maintaining the good image of the Nigerian Army to instill 24-hour proper security discipline at the estate and curtail intrusion by undesirable elements and non-residents into the estate. I urge the Nigerian Army Post-Service Housing Directorate and other appropriate authorities to move into this crisis and clear it once and for all. A stitch in time saves nine.

Lucy Ademu writes from Nigerian Army Housing Estate, Kurudu, Abuja