Now, army tackles new frontier
Mere mortals who have cause to interact with soldiers always consider them as bloodcurdling daredevils. The soldiers, often portray themselves in such light with their pre-occupation with combat and combat related activities. This year, however, the focus of the army in the 2 Amphibious Brigade, Port Harcourt, shifted. Brigadier General Ladan Yusuf, the incumbent Brigade […]
Mere mortals who have cause to interact with soldiers always consider them as bloodcurdling daredevils. The soldiers, often portray themselves in such light with their pre-occupation with combat and combat related activities. This year, however, the focus of the army in the 2 Amphibious Brigade, Port Harcourt, shifted.
Brigadier General Ladan Yusuf, the incumbent Brigade Commander, conceived the idea that the annual internal security study period of the army should have a human angle to it. Instead of pondering on weapons handling, cordon and search; and other standard military tactics, the brigade decided to tackle the hitherto neglected area of handling internally displaced persons (IDPs).
It is a known fact everywhere in the world that hapless civilians are often the victims of conflicts make them to become wanderers in their own country. It is for this reason that the 2 amplifiers Brigade in collaboration with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Red Cross, organized a simulation exercise where IDPs fleeing from a community fracas besieged the 12 Brigade, a fictitious barracks, to seek refuge.
The simulation setting (which in reality took place inside Bori Camp, Port Harcourt), was in a state known as Water state where a new local government council was created and deep seated antagonism between the fishermen, citizens of Rumo-Kumimashi and their hunter counterparts of Zumo-Abakpa, came to fore. The two communities clashed with the Zumo-Abakpa people taking the offensive which led to the massive loss of lives and property and the attendant escalation of tension. This was in 1970.
In a dramatic display, victims of the conflict ran into the 122 barracks inside the assumed 12 Brigade, calling on the Nija soldiers to save their souls. In quick response to the unfolding events, the army had set up, manned and was ready to manage an IDPs camp inside the barracks. So, when the IDPs came calling with their distress calls, they were ready for them.
The army, acting on the orders of its headquarters, deployed its troops in a secured manner in conjunction with the country’s Disaster Response Unit (NEMA). The first phase of the simulation after the setting up of the camp was a briefing of the Alpha Company of the 122 Battalion. The soldiers were intimated with the IDPs camp layout, the geographical location of the conflict zone, showing important landmarks and all the pathways to it.
They were told that over thirty hoodlums armed with dangerous weapons had marauded Rumo-Kumimashi area killing a police DSP and other policemen. The attackers were said to have also set ablaze property and were intent on fortifying their hold on the area by recruiting more foot-soldiers. According to the brief, the morale of the predators was high as a result of the support they enjoyed from influential members of their community.
Undaunted, however, the soldiers were told that as ‘friendly forces,’ their responsibility is to restore order in the area of the IDPs. Their scheme of manoeuvre was to mount series of road blocks at strategic locations, arrest suspects at the scene of the conflict and assist government agencies and NGOs evacuate those who were seriously wounded.
The soldiers were told in strict terms, that their job was to protect the IDPs. Three platoons were detailed to carry out this order. The first platoon was to protect the IDPs. The second one was to mount roadblocks and conduct a foot patrol of the IDPs camp. And the third platoon was to serve as a reserve in case there is need for any back up.
An armoured personnel carrier (APC) was deployed as a confident building patrol outlet intended to facilitate arrest of hoodlums and aid preparation for other tasks as they emanate. The troops were told to engage foes using standard operational procedures and that all reconnaissance activities should not go outside the conflict zone. They were also briefed that all signals will proceed via electronic communications with coded words. All the soldiers were told to read through their notes and ask questions where they needed clarifications.
After the briefing, an outside patrol unit in an APC was called in via radio. Immediately, the PAC came in and took its orders imagining IDPs were sighted rushing into the camp made for them. They comprised those wounded, distressed, pregnant women and dishevelled children. They passed through the first checkpoint and came to a second one where female military police personnel frisked the women and children for any concealed weapons. Other IDPs were also rigorously searched to prevent the smuggling of injurious items into the camp.
The IDPs were counted and grouped in multiple of tens. Their photographs were taken for identification of missing persons. They were provided with mattresses and other items. Thereafter they were taken into the camp which has four sectors. Sector A was for complete families, sector B for women without husbands and sector C for husbands without wives and sector D for children without parents.
The layout of the camp indicated the thoroughness of the organizers. It has an alternative power source, an information cum administration outfit where photographs of missing persons were pasted on notice boards and an open air church. It also has a cook house at the far rear right hand side and gender sensitive toilets at the rear left hand side. The distance between the toilets and the main camp is considerable in order to forestall breakout of epidemics. Further apart from it was a refuse dump. Near the gate of the camp were NEMA mobile ambulances.
At the end of the exercise, General Yusuf, an infantry officer with a background as a psychologist, told newsmen that he discovered that the army and other agencies have capabilities but lack integration. He said the idea of the exercise was to initiate a process whereby the disparate bodies will start harnessing their resources to forestall problems.
According to him, the Nigerian army is familiar with such operations having been participating in peace keeping efforts around the globe. “This military training is an incubation period for potential crises management. The military is dynamic, so our new focus is to address challenges unfolding before us”, Gen. Yusuf explained, stressing that he hopes that the exercise will be an annual one.
When asked about his comment on a real situation where IDPs population overwhelms the military preparations, he said, “from experience, barracks are not the only place where IDPs camps could be located. If the number pouring into our barracks cannot be handled by us, we will send them to other camps”.
Mr Umesi Emenike, the south-south zonal coordinator of NEMA told Sunday Trust that the agency collaborated with the army to add their input to the exercise, which is the first of its kind. He suggested that the exercise could be done twice yearly, hoping that “other forces and military installations will emulate it”.
The representative of the Red Cross, who is also the Rivers state secretary of the organisation, Mr Sunday Dikibo, said they are ready for such eventualities at anytime as they have been training members at community levels. “We train them to train others so that when there is any problem, we can count on their help”, Dikibo explained.
Military personnels who participated in the simulation were unanimous in their commendation for it. Major IP Omoke, who commanded the Alpha Battalion, said he learnt a lot. “Timing is of essence in this kind of exercise. I have also learnt that clear and unambiguous orders are also important”, he added.
Lieutenant Abdul-Rahman Sanda Ndayako, noted that “the experience is educating in the sense that as a platoon commander, I have got a better education as to what is expected of me and my troops in such situations”.
On his part, Lieutenant MD Bent, explained that “the APC plays many roles because of its armoured protection but I have just learnt more of these roles that are beyond neutralising aggression”.
In his closing remarks, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division, Major General Mohammed Isa, observed that “most disasters in Nigeria are man made as opposed to those in other parts of the world that are caused by natural phenomena. Some of these disasters present the Nigeria army with certain oddities in her conduct of internal security operations”.
Commending the 2 Amphibious Brigade for the innovation, he urged them to forward observed lapses to the division so that it could make its input to rectify them in future exercises.