Aiyeku Timothy
A retired captain from the United States of America Army, Bishop Johnson, has faulted the move by the Nigerian Army to deploy soldiers to the scene of the #EndSars toll gate on October 20.
It would be recalled that some Nigerian youths were allegedly killed by men of the Nigerian Army in a move to have them vacate the Lekki Toll Gate where they held protests against Police brutality for days, putting the movement of cars to a complete halt.
According to the retired US Army officer, there is no justification for the use of live ammunition if it was compulsory for soldiers to be at the scene of the protest.
He stressed that the Nigerian Police were in a better position to be at the scene of the protest and not the Nigerian Army.
He stated that “Based on my perspective as a former US soldier, first and foremost, the army ought not to have been there. The people who ought to have been there should have been the police.
“Now, I understand that the constitution allows the army to participate in internal security operations in Nigeria, but that should only happen when they are called upon to do so. And the police have to have demonstrated that they don’t have the capacity to quell the unrest, but I don’t think what happened (on October 20) had gone beyond the capacity of the police to quell it. Besides, the protesters were peaceful, carrying the Nigerian flags and singing the Nigerian national anthem.
“So, for me, I don’t see where that poses a threat to the national security of the country other than the fact that the crowd were just there. First, the Nigerian Army ought not to have been there. And if they were there, they should not have been there with live ammunition. They should have only been there with some crowd-control equipment such as teargas and others. They should not fire live ammunition.”
He therefore lamented the weak institutions in the country as he noted that the loyalty of the military should be to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria alone.
His words “It is because we have very weak institutions. Now, the military’s loyalty ought not to be to the President or to any citizen of this country. The military’s loyalty ought to be to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If you look at what happened in the USA recently, in spite of the steps by President Donald Trump, the institutions stood firm and they are fighting back.”
