On Tuesday this week, a Nigerian soldier reportedly assaulted an innocent harmless woman at Banex Plaza, simply because she crossed over a barricade while trying to make her way to her destination. Daily Trust reported that the assaulted woman collapsed into a coma after being slapped heavily by the soldier, indicating that she may have been unwell or seriously ill at the time of the assault.
She was immediately rushed to the hospital, and the last has not yet been heard of her or her condition. This is not the first time that the personnel of the Nigerian Army or other security agencies have assaulted unarmed innocent citizens without consequences. We witness these sorts of distasteful occurrences every day, and there seems to be no end in sight to the manner of high-handedness and show of force that is being exhibited by military personnel and their co-security agents against civilians.
This is exactly a week since the Army has been occupying Banex Plaza in Abuja, locking it up and preventing hardworking Nigerians from going about their normal businesses. Many of the business men and women whose shops have been under lock and key for a week now, have expressed their disgruntlement with the way the Army is handling the earlier attack of its personnel at the plaza.
Reports have it that at least two soldiers were assaulted at Banex Plaza on Saturday, the 18th of May, following a misunderstanding that ensued from the sale of a phone to a dissatisfied customer. It is still not very clear how the altercation erupted, but eyewitnesses claim that the soldiers who were invited by the dissatisfied phone buyer (to probably force the phone seller to either refund her money or replace the phone she had bought from him), tried to intimidate the phone seller and force him to do their biddings, but were attacked by some hoodlums who would not have their colleague victimized by soldiers.
Many observers who have commented on the Banex fracas largely blamed the soldiers for allowing themselves to be dragged into what they described as “a purely civil affair.” While this sets of people blamed the soldiers and hailed their manhandling and assault, others felt it was totally wrong and unacceptable for thugs and hoodlums to pounce on uniformed men and beat them up in the manner that was seen in a video that has since gone viral on the internet.
During the course of the altercation, the Police quickly arrived at the scene to quell the situation and prevent the soldiers from being mobbed. It was not long after peace had been restored that soldiers in military trucks reportedly invaded the entire Banex Plaza and descended on the people there. The invasion by the soldiers caused serious pandemonium at the ever-busy plaza as people ran helter-skelter to avoid being beaten up by the visibly-angry military men. Some persons who were not too fortunate were apprehended by the soldiers and severely punished, while many who managed to escape from the scene lost some of their valuables such as phones, laptops and some accessories.
It is not to be overlooked that this very issue that has caused a lot of embarrassment to the Nigerian Army is one that would have completely been avoided. There was no reason for a soldier in khaki to accompany a civilian to the market to settle a civil dispute. That was the soldier denigrating himself and the entire Army which he represents. Civil matters are best handled by the Police. The Army has never been known to resolve civil matters without using brute force and violating people’s rights.
So, while we condemn the manhandling of the soldiers by hoodlums who took their self-help measures to the extreme, we will however not turn a blind eye to the soldiers’ folly which was demonstrated by their meddling in a purely civil affair.
It was to my dismay and consternation that General Onyema Nwachukwu, the Army spokesperson, did not address the issue of the soldiers’ meddling in a “purely civil affair” in his official response to the Army’s takeover of Banex Plaza. He merely window-dressed the matter and put all the blame on the hoodlums whose reactions to the entire situation were instigated by the soldiers’ actions.
Phone sellers and other traders who usually carry out their businesses at Banex Plaza and other popular spots in the FCT are often united when it comes to staving off external aggressions and threats from bellicose customers, and that was exactly what played out at Banex last Saturday. The aggrieved customer went overboard in seeking redress by inviting soldiers to harass the person or persons who sold a ‘bad’ phone to her, and the phone sellers who mainly are hoodlums and seasoned law-breakers, did not care at all that the persons who were invited to ‘resolve’ the problem on ground were kitted in military fatigues. What then ensued afterwards was largely expected as the situation was clearly mismanaged by the megalomaniac soldiers.
This once again brings us to the question of why the military has found a favourite pastime in meddling in civil affairs. Since when did the laws of Nigeria empower the military and other uniform security outfits to handle civil issues or meddle in matters that are clearly under the jurisdiction of the Police? Is the military high command in support of the misconducts of its personnel, especially the ones that border on their meddlesomeness and unwarranted interference in matters that are off their concern?
The language of General Nwachukwu’s official statement on the Army’s takeover of Banex was indicative of the Army’s approval of the misconducts and irrational behaviours of its personnel, particularly in their dealings with civilians. It clearly showed that the Army is far disconnected from the realities of the times that we are in. It did not in any way portray the Army as a respecter of the democratic system that is in force in Nigeria. The Army and the Armed Forces are constitutionally the defenders of the country’s democracy and must therefore put up behaviours and conducts that portray them as such.
While we continue to blame any civilian who dares to raise his hand against a uniformed person or an agent of state, we also call on members of the Armed Forces to be well-guided in their dealings with members of the civilian public. It is not proper for military men to be seen regularly in public spaces. They should ordinarily be in their barracks and in the confines of their bases except when there is need for them to be present on the streets.
In civilized climes, soldiers are rarely seen in public spaces spotting their military fatigues. They spend most of their time in their barracks or at the warfronts. But in countries like Nigeria where anything goes, soldiers are found all over the place and in some cases, engaging in unwholesome practices such as drinking and smoking in public. This does not say well of the highly-revered and well-regimented military career that we know.
Civilians are not under any obligation to live regimented lives or act decorously, but members of the military are required to always behave in ways that portray them as good ambassadors of the Armed Forces they represent and their country by extension.
Today, about a battalion of soldiers is laying siege at the Banex Plaza, preventing hardworking citizens from undertaking their productive businesses and wasting taxpayers’ money. This conduct of the Army constitutes great nuisance to the masses and must be addressed forthwith. Soldiers who should be at their duty posts tending to Nigeria’s many daunting security issues are idling away in the name of “laying siege.”
As it stands now, Nigeria is under-militarized as there aren’t enough soldiers to man the hundreds of terror flashpoints in the country; yet there are hundreds of soldiers presently occupying a very important business hub in Abuja where thousands of productive citizens engage in quality businesses that contribute to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). This is not the way to address issues such as this, and the government should as a matter of urgency, call the Army off from Banex Plaza and ensure that the place is reopened for business.
Legal luminary, Chief Femi Falana, SAN, has lent his voice to the cacophonous call for the reopening of the Banex Plaza. He has recommended the best ways to resolve the pending dispute and douse the already-brewing tension. His advice that the assaulted soldiers should press criminal charges against their attackers is a wise one and should be considered by the Army.
Falana further emphasized that neither the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria nor the Armed Forces Act empowers the Army to investigate criminal offences involving citizens who are not subject to service laws. That is exactly how the entire issue should be viewed. Nigeria operates under the principle of the Rule of Law and must be seen to be a law-abiding nation, not some anarchical entity where some people are above the law.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, must as a matter of expediency, order the Army to immediately vacate Banex Plaza and allow hardworking Nigerians to continue their productive businesses. As it stands now, billions of naira have been lost by the business community in Banex, and this is not a good thing.
At a time when the economy of the country is on a constant downward trajectory, businesses and other endeavours that contribute to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) should be buttressed rather than hampered. It will do Nigeria no good that the legitimate businesses of its citizens are subjected to jeopardy just in a bid to prove a point and massage the ego of a megalomaniac unit of the Nigerian society whose existence is hinged on funding and supplies from the state purse.
The Army must realize that it exists to serve Nigeria and not the other way round. Therefore, it must sheathe its sword and toe the path of honour by vacating the Banex Plaza and reopening it for business. General Taoreed Lagbaja, the Chief of Army Staff, is said to be a man of honour who always demonstrates a high level of professionalism and tact. I believe that he will hearken to the voice of reason and do the needful.
May Nigeria succeed!
Nwachukwu is a freelance journalist and media consultant. He can be reached by email at [email protected] and on X (formerly Twitter) @Cmatencore