Insulating The Nigerian Armed Forces From Politics

April 16, 2018 Greg Abolo

The Oasis Reporters

April 16, 2018

By Gora Dauda

What we call the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is actually a creation of a political process by the provisions of Section 217 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Specifically, this Section provides as follows
“There shall be an armed forces for the Federation which shall consist of an Army, a Navy and Air Force and such other branches of the armed forces of the Federation as may be established by an Act of the National Assembly”.

Sub Section (2) states further that “The Federation shall subject to the Act of the National Assembly made in that behalf, equip and maintain the armed forces as may be considered adequate and effective for the purpose of:”

(a) defending Nigeria from external aggression.

.(b) maintaining its territorial integrity and securing its borders from violation on land, sea and air.

(c) Suppressing insurrection and acting in aid of civil authority to restore order when called upon to do so by the President, but subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly and,

(d) performing such other functions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.

Surely, the architects of the Constitution rightly foresaw situations during which the Civil Police who have the primary responsibility for the maintenance of law and order in Nigeria could sometimes be overwhelmed by realities on the ground which could require the intervention of the military. Sub Sections 2 (c) and (d) do provide legal and justifiable grounds for inviting the military whenever such situations arose. Whatever role the military engages in is a supporting role to the Civil Police and by extension the Civil Authority. Whenever the situation is reasonably brought under control, the military normally would handover, back the Civil Police. For the period the military is involved proper records are kept as their intervention could be the subject of an inquiry.

It is important to lay the above background so that a proper understanding of the military role can be appreciated and understood. This is very necessary in the light of how government officials appear to be twisting the roles the military could be assigned to so that they could achieve their often always narrow political ends and in so doing bringing odium to this noble profession.
The unprofessional manner in which some individuals in the uniform of the Nigerian Armed Forces conducted themselves during the last governorship election in Ekiti State is still very fresh in our minds. The Nigerian Armed Forces in spite of that has performed exceptionally well in all the Internal Security Operations in which they have participated.

Given what is clearly evident in Kaduna State, there is cause for concern by the way some elements in military uniform probably, personnel of Operation Yaki are being used.
When during the administration of Arc Namadi Sambo as Kaduna State governor, Operation Yaki was conceived and put to operation. Operation Yaki had as an aim to ” Improve and Upgrade Security Measures in Kaduna State”. If this outfit was set up pursuant to Sub Section 2 (c) of Section 217 of the Constitution, a Joint Operation”s Room needed to have been set up at the Kaduna State Police Command Headquarters to coordinate the entire operation. This was not done rather the Headquarters was and still is located within the Government House and headed by a Special adviser on Security who is a retired military personnel.

The danger in this kind of tardy arrangement is that military personnel who are subjected to 2 laws ( The laws of the land and Military Law) are put in a legal quandary. To the best of my limited knowledge, military personnel ought to be under the command of a commissioned officer. Since Operation Yaki is headed by a retired military officer, to what extent can such a retired officer give legal orders to serving military personnel?

It would have been expected that military commanders at the time Operation Yaki was conceived should have seen this contradiction. I am not a lawyer, but I know that lawyers will have a field day when serious problems arise in the manner of some of the duties Operation Yaki is carrying out for government. I should like to think that Operation Yaki was not conceived as a permanent alternative security outfit to the constitutionally recognised bodies for this purpose.

For all intents and purposes, Operation Yaki appears to be assuming the role of a Gestapo given the manner the current government of Kaduna State is deploying its members. If Operation Yaki must continue to remain, then it must work to protect the interests of the population of Kaduna State and not the interest of the governor.
The illegal demolition of the factional headquarters of the APC in Kaduna at No11B Sambo Road comes to mind. Never before in the history of our arduous political journey has such a reckless exercise ever been contemplated or even carried out without a court ruling. In the heat of the night, men in military uniform laden in Operation Yaki vehicles stood guard as bulldozers executed the demolition. It is said that the Kaduna State Police Commissioner had refused to let his men take part in this illegality. To date, the true identity of those men in military uniform who stood guard as the bulldozers carried out that obvious political vendetta is yet to be established.

Thoroughly embarrassing as this issue is, we thought that the GOC 1 Mechanized Division should have instituted an inquiry of sort to determine the identity of those involved if only to protect the Command.

The very vital question begging for an answer remains if the men in military uniform are not from any of the military units in Kaduna, where then did they come from?
It is politically expedient that this question be answered as this nation trudges on to an election year. Our fears from a political standpoint is that some selfish and unpatriotic individuals could be illegally training political thugs for purely selfish ends in the elections to come. In Kaduna State presently there exists this wide gulf between those in position of governance and the governed that Operation Yaki is used as escorts and for personal protection much against the very purpose it was set up.

It is far past time that Operation Yaki was disbanded so that the personnel can return to their Services. Much more important, is the urgent need to withdraw the military from these phoney contraptions. Doing this will insulate the military from undue political influence.