The killings in Wase

According to reports, the soldiers, angered by the alleged killing of their colleagues by some yet-to-be-identified villagers, invaded the locations in 40-strong truck convoys, rounding up residents and shooting them. In an operation reminiscent of the infamous Odi and Zaki Biam episodes in 1999 and 2001, there was no due process; everyone in sight was […]

According to reports, the soldiers, angered by the alleged killing of their colleagues by some yet-to-be-identified villagers, invaded the locations in 40-strong truck convoys, rounding up residents and shooting them. In an operation reminiscent of the infamous Odi and Zaki Biam episodes in 1999 and 2001, there was no due process; everyone in sight was a potential enemy and gunned down.  They set houses, including the palace of the traditional ruler of Kadarko, Pondzi Kadarko, Chief Lot Nde, on fire.
Spokesman for the Special Task Force (STF), to which the soldiers belong, Captain Ikedichi Iweha, put the number of persons killed in the attack at 28; Nde said the number was up 39. Accounts by other villagers put the death toll much higher, at 53.
Captain Iweha noted that the trouble started on April 28, 2015, when some militiamen allegedly ambushed an army patrol team, killing six of its members ‘in a brutal and dehumanizing manner, because their eyes were gorged; heads decapitated; and their bodies mutilated”. All these, Capt. Iweha said, prompted the 3 Armoured Division of the Army and the STF to conduct the operation to deal with those responsible. While one soldier was killed in the mission and four others unaccounted for, Iweha said that soldiers destroyed what he described as an armoury in Kadarko used by the militiamen.
Both the House of Representatives, which mandated its Committee on Defence, Army and Human Rights to take action, and the Plateau legislature, have launched separate inquiries into the killings
Reacting to media reports that characterised the troops’ conduct as genocide, the Defence Headquarters issued a statement justifying the mission, saying it was launched to dislodge suspected militia groups harbouring in villages in the borders of Plateau and Taraba states. According to the statement posted on its website, 32 of the suspected militants were killed in the shootout while some soldiers sustained various degrees of injury.
The military noted that soldiers had to carry out the operation because the group was growing in strength and ambition, expanding in scope and sphere of criminal activities. The statement observed that the fact that the militiamen were audacious enough to engage the troops meant that they were already a formidable criminal gang that had to be checked.
 The taking up arms by some in the affected communities and attacking and killing soldiers are condemnable acts, and should not be allowed to stand; however the army should have responded in a better way than the collective punishment exacted indiscriminately on the communities, making the difference in savagery and lawlessness between both sides hard to distinguish.
While it is criminal and an affront to the state to attack the military and other security personnel on lawful duty, soldiers must also exercise maximum restraint in reacting to provocations.  The investigative panels by the House of Representatives and the Plateau State House of Assembly must do a thorough job before their current sessions end. That’s the way to go, for now; and it should persuade the chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Human Rights, Beni Lar, to drop the threat of reporting the incident to the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. There should be a measure of confidence in the ability of the legislature he belongs to make the appropriate findings and recommend the right way forward.
The government and army authorities should also launch their separate investigations into the killings, not only to identify and bring to justice members of the militiamen involved, but also to redefine and strengthen the army’s rules of engagement when confronted with such circumstances. Community leaders must help in identifying those responsible for the crime to break circle of attacks on security forces. But the army will help its cause too if soldiers are trained to imbibe the culture of due process.