As Nigeria’s security architecture continues to wobble under the burden of insecurity, the Army, which should be a last resort, is increasingly being called upon to do the job of paramilitary forces such as the Police, Civil Defence, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and Immigration.
The Nigerian Army theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole had in a statement said it launched “Operation Positive Identification” against the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP)/Boko Haram terrorists in the North Eastern part of the country.
The troops were instructed to strictly check valid means of identification such as national identification card, voters’ registration card, driver’s licence, international passports, or other valid official identification, before allowing passage of persons in the region.
But the Army later announced it would extend “Operation Positive Identification” to all geopolitical zones in a bid to combat insecurity across the nation, in an exercise expected to end on December 24. Nigerian soldiers would be drafted from their barracks to check identification cards such as driver’s licence which ordinarily would be the remit of the Federal Road Safety Corps, and voter cards which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would check during elections.
Sagir Musa, a colonel and acting director, Army Public Relations, in a telephone interview with BusinessDay in Abuja on Monday, said the operations are being planned by the Army ahead of the yuletide season. The operations, he said, would see Nigerians across the country witness a large number of uniformed Nigerian Army personnel parading the roads as part of efforts to tackle insecurity, armed banditry and kidnapping.
Musa had given a breakdown of how the exercises would be executed, including Ayem Akpatuma II in the North Central states of Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi and Taraba as well as Kaduna and Niger States in 1 and 3 Divisions Area of Responsibilities (AOR) including Headquarters Command Army Records, Guards Brigade and 707 Special Forces Brigade.
Others include Exercise EGWU EKE IV, which would be carried out in the South Eastern part of Nigeria comprising Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States in 82 Division AOR, while Exercise CROCODILE SMILE IV would as usual take place in the South-South states of Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers States as well as South Western states of Lagos and Ogun in 2, 6, 81 and 82 Divisions’ AOR.
But security experts and human rights activists say this undermines the essence of the Nigerian Army while at the same time exposing millions of Nigerians to violations of their fundamental human rights.
The Army has been accused by rights groups, such as Amnesty International, of committing gross violations against the rights of ordinary Nigerians across the country, and especially in the insurgency-challenged North East.
“Military operations are supposed to be external response to defend the integrity of Nigeria, but nowadays, even at checkpoints or ordinary roadsides, you see the military and that has continued to bring disrespect to the Army,” said Awaal Ibrahim, executive director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).
He described the entire operations as a carryover of efforts during the military regime to undermine the effectiveness of the police force (in particular) and other paramilitary agencies.
“Unfortunately, even after the return to democracy”, the effectiveness of the police continues to be undermined, he said.
“If the government is interested in strengthening the effectiveness of police and other paramilitary agencies, there will be no need to bring in the Army,” he said.
Aliyu Umar, a retired Army captain who is currently a security consultant, told BusinessDay in a phone interview that every (little) operation now gets assigned to soldiers “and before we know it, our soldiers will become two for 10 kobo”.
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“When your soldiers who are meant to be your last resort have become your everyday go-to, then you have a problem,” Umar said.
Umar said for the military to do identification operations for the populace is itself an abuse.
“It is a dilution of the traditional role of the military,” he said, explaining that the different operations are “reducing the military to roles that ordinarily the police or even other paramilitary agencies should be able to conduct”.
“If (government) feels our police force is not up to the task then there is nothing that stops the country from evolving a national guard, for example. If we had such, they can take up that task (currently being assigned to the Army). The mobile police force merged with civil defence is the national guard we require,” he said.
Eze Onyekpere, lead director, Centre for Social Justice, said the Army has no business with internal security, and the police should have been allowed to do their job.
“We are surprised that the military now wants to start asking people for ID. All the while they’ve been doing different operations, what has come out of it?” Onyekpere said.
“I suppose they should go to the North East to face Boko Haram and to the North West to face banditry,” he said.
According to him, the Army has not successfully dealt with its primary assignment and now wants to usurp the role of the police even further.
CALEB OJEWALE & TONY AILEMEN, Abuja
