Let’s mind what our soldiers do
In these most difficult of times when our soldiers are engaged in deadly field operations in various parts of the nation, we must strive to give them all the logistical and moral support necessary to sustain their patriotism and overcome our enemies. However, it’s also crucial for them to understand that internal military operations are […]
In these most difficult of times when our soldiers are engaged in deadly field operations in various parts of the nation, we must strive to give them all the logistical and moral support necessary to sustain their patriotism and overcome our enemies. However, it’s also crucial for them to understand that internal military operations are fratricidal and should be carried out with restraint as brothers not as deadly enemies. Although this is easier said than done, at the end of the day whenever the killing is eventually over, the survivors whether in the North-East, Niger Delta or Igboland will all have to continue living together. At that point in time the last thing the nation will need is a vendetta culture where the children of those massacred will seek revenge against the state.
The Internet is currently replete with Amnesty International video footage showing purported Nigerian soldiers engaging in gruesome extra-judicial killings and war crimes in the North-East. Nigerian Army authorities have as expected called the footage “a calculated attempt to rubbish the security forces in particular and the Nigerian Army for reasons best known to them”. This reaction is akin to burying our heads in the sand. According to experienced military historians familiar with battlefield actions and human psychology under extreme circumstances, the lesson of history is that wherever in the world there have been military operations there have been incidences of individual or collective excesses bordering on war crimes. Our military top brass continues to claim that our soldiers act “professionally within the extant rules of Engagement”. If this is so, then with the evidence in the public arena the rules be changed. This isn’t the first time that evidence of war crimes by our soldiers has surfaced. Rather than continuously denying the atrocities that take place military authorities should launch a media blitz to show that such actions are neither a deliberate policy nor widespread. In an earlier report entitled “Stars on their Shoulders, Blood on their Hands: War Crimes Committed by the Nigerian Military” Amnesty International alleged that during operations against Boko Haram our soldiers committed “countless acts of torture, and at least 7,000 people died either as a result of extra-judicial killing or in military detention as a result of overcrowding, starvation and denial of medical assistance”.
Amnesty International claims that most of the extra-judicial killings are reprisals following deadly attacks when soldiers simply “go to the nearest place and kill all the youths whether they are innocent or guilty”. It’s important to bear in mind that the International Criminal Court (ICC) previously said there was insufficient evidence tying our military to any systematic and orchestrated atrocities. However, there can be no denying that there is a culture of impunity within our military. The filmed burning of BRT buses in Lagos and the brutal beating of 25-year old Sunday Amaechi which went viral on the Internet are still fresh in mind. In all truthfulness, our Military personnel have become increasingly dismissive of civilian control and generally feel themselves to be above the law. Allegations of detainees being hung on poles over fires, tossed into deep pits, interrogated using electric batons or even tortured to death while in military confinement are too numerous to recount.
In a report entitled “Unearthing the truth: Unlawful killings and mass cover-up in Zaria” Amnesty International interviews with 92 eye witnesses contained shocking testimony of large scale unlawful killings and a crude attempt to destroy and conceal evidence. The Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) a UK based Muslim advocacy organization has dragged President Buhari, Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, and the Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the massacres. They gave a list of names of all those they believe were involved who must be questioned and held to account. Our Army is equipped, trained and paid by civilians and no matter the provocation it’s unacceptable for them to be regularly accused of killing or maiming innocent unarmed civilians and attempting to hide the evidence. It’s not only a grave injustice, but also a moral tragedy.
The conspiracy of silence over the matter is disturbing and only aids and abets the evil ones we cannot all afford to wait to be personally affected before we act to bring our soldiers in the field under control. Every sympathy should be given to those who acted out of psychological stress having seen the horrors of war and become dehumanized. The choice is either to cower in fear or courageously expose the criminal elements in uniform. Nigeria has sovereign rights to investigate its own affairs but the current rubbishing of our Judiciary doesn’t lend itself to confidence in the outcome of any local judicial enquiry.
The well-publicised looting of security funds has negatively impacted on the professionalism and training of our military personnel. If our military authorities truly believe Amnesty International’s allegations to be isolated incidences by individuals rather than a deliberate policy, then they should allow impartial international authorities a free hand to investigate and deliver a “confidential report” which they can act upon.