Merchants of Borno

 Dear Sir, permit me a space in your widely read newspaper to share with Nigerians some of the happenings in Borno. Here are few abnormal things done by even junior military officers which make many people in Borno state to think even soldiers will not wish this Boko haram crisis to end in the near […]

 Dear Sir, permit me a space in your widely read newspaper to share with Nigerians some of the happenings in Borno.

Here are few abnormal things done by even junior military officers which make many people in Borno state to think even soldiers will not wish this Boko haram crisis to end in the near future.  Only God knows what senior military officers who receive millions are doing to continue staying here. 

Numerating all the ill- activities and disclosing locations in which our soldiers do these nefarious activities is akin to exposing them to dangers and time consuming. Plus what others would call ‘putting sand in someone’s garri’. 

The first and major one is the involvement of soldiers in Borno in commercial activities. Since the ban of fishing in the famous fishing hub known as Baga by the military, the soldiers stationed there instantly dropped their guns and became fishermen. Anytime you see fish in whatever quantity in the metropolis, it’s brought by soldiers. Anyone who knows the huge amount of money generated there in the border town will be shocked and never wonder why soldiers will not wish this imbroglio to end. In which part of the world do soldiers sent on mission leave their duties and become business men? Money they say is the root of all evil. It is the same case in the South South where security operatives pay ridiculous amount of money to be posted to the creeks. They believe the end of your misery as a proletariat has come if you go there. 

Second is the cattle business by soldiers. Our fear is that our Fulani friends will soon lose their jobs if these soldiers are left to continue the business of buying livestock and sending it to the southern part of the country for sale. 

Third is transporting food items to isolated villages by soldiers. These soldiers have overtaken the job of Dangote and Bua by supplying food items to places where private vehicles are restricted from going. The funniest of all is seeing soldiers grazing.  You are here to keep and maintain peace and not be entrepreneurs. This is just in case you’ve forgotten the reason of being here.

These and many other happenings are the reasons why many, especially those who have lost their businesses from bans and those who were denied of their legitimate means of survival by the GOC think the soldiers are the reason behind the never-ending crisis. In the words of Muhammad Al-Bashir, “they forge and create violence to prolong their stay”. 

Acts inimical to the image of the military profession should be stopped please.

Muhammad Bukar writes from Maiduguri, 08020944520.