The Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara in Abuja on July 4, 2017, at a capacity/ Interactive Needs Assessment Workshop of Security Sector Related Committees in the House of Representatives, organised in collaboration with Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre said:
It is worrisome that Nigeria is effectively permanently in a state of emergency as the Armed Forces are deployed in more than 28 States of the Federation in peacetime. The Armed Forces have virtually taken over routine Police work in Nigeria. It is no longer acting in aid of civil authorities but has become the civil authority itself.
This statement made in July 2017, has once again come to prominence owing to the decision of the military to commence
Operation Crocodile Smile II in the Southsouth and the Southwest.
The Nigerian Army at the moment is virtually operating in all regions of the federation. In the Northwest/Northcentral (Operation Harbin Kunama), Northeast (Operation Lafiya Dole), Southeast (Operation Python Dance) and now the military wants to embark on Operation Crocodile Smile II in the Southsouth and the Southwest?
At a time the military, like other security apparatus in the country is understaffed with just 194,000 officers to over 150 million Nigerians, they are making their presence felt in every part of the country. These operations are different from the abnormal deployment of military especially army officers we are witnessing around us.
The military is now deployed for every activity around us, from communal clashes, to fight between two factions of NURTW, to riot activities in institutions; acts of insecurity that should be handled by the Nigeria Police Force and the civil defence is now handled by the military including armed robbery and kidnapping.
The implications of all this is that we are militarising the country at the expense of our peace and unity.God forbid we have recalcitrant officers in the military that want to embark on a coup activity.The military hierarchy has made the operation seamless for them as they now have colleagues in all part of the country.
The federal government is advised to call the military authorities to order to prevent an overstretch of the Nigerian armed forces. Over stretching them will reduce their effectiveness and professionalism.
Omoleye Omoruyi… an apprentice web/game developer, novelist, sensitive to happenings in the world. Meet him @Lord_rickie on Twitter/Instagram
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