HURIWA TO ARMY CHIEF, IGP: Call your men to order, stop extorting on Eastern roads
Oru Leonard
Front line Civil Rights Advocacy group: The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has asked the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja to call the men and operatives of the Army in the South East of Nigeria who are mounting roadblocks and using these as platforms for Extortion and Harassment of the civilian population commuting around the region to join their kiths and kins for the Yuletide celebrations, to order and to implement measures to weed out corrupt-minded operatives from the highways.
The Rights group said there is no fundamental difference between these rogue soldiers, police, civil defence operatives and the nominal armed non-state actors committing horrendous crimes against the citizens just as the Rights group said fishing out these undesirable elements embedded in the armed forces who are participating in internal security operations is key to ensuring the restoration of professionalism and discipline in the Armed Forces.
HURIWA also warned the soldiers to avoid using extrajudicial execution of citizens as a technique for carrying out their duty just as the Rights group said adherence in its strictest sense to the rules of engagement is strategic for the members of the armed forces of Nigeria and these steps are in line with global best practices.
The Rights group said it was drawing the attention of the Army chief of staff, that of the Inspector-General of Police, the commandant General of the civil defence Corps, to take notice of these unfortunate scenarios and crimes of bribery and intimidation of motorists by their operatives in the South East of Nigeria and redirect their focus towards keeping and maintaining law and order and undertake lawful internal security operations to weed out armed hoodlums causing insecurity and instability in the once economically flourishing and peaceful South East Region of Nigeria.
HURIWA said the heads of the security agencies must as a matter of urgency take steps to weed out bad eggs amongst their operatives in the current internal security operations around the nation and especially in the South East of Nigeria so as to engender public confidence and the trust of the members of the general public who are inevitably critical to the ability of the armed forces to win the hearts and minds of the civil populace and thereby generate quality actionable intelligence to make their tasks seamless and successful.
HURIWA in the the media release signed by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko called on the governors of the five South East states to team up and work out implementable strategies to safeguard the lives and property of their people just as the Rights group said that it is odious and despicable that the state governors are not concerned about the welfare of their citizens especially as the cases of extortion and harassment of their citizens by operatives of the armed forces have become pervasive and deeply offensive.
HURIWA observed thus: “For far too long, the political office holders of South East extraction, have abandoned the pursuit of the wellbeing and the welfare of the good people of the South-East region and engaged in hot pursuit of pecuniary benefits for themselves to the security detriment of their constituents in the five Igbo states. The lack of good governance and quality leadership, has created the opportunities for some undesirable elements parading about in Europe as leaders of a separatist movement, have ceased the process of controlling the minds of youngsters in the Igbo region to an extent that indiscriminate killings of Igbo people, the destruction of strategic national security assets located in the South East being perpetrated by all kinds of persons, have become a commonplace. The time for action and total resolution of the conflicts in the South East is here. ”
HURIWA stated that her attention has been called to a well structured complaint in which the writer stated as follows: “I’m still surprised why the governors of Enugu and Anambra States have not addressed the hardship security operatives are causing on our roads. How can you have all these checkpoints just from Awka to Enugu?
“What is most worrisome is that these people are not doing anything related to security. They just block the road and cause traffic snarls everywhere. They only remember to search you if the boys working for them ask you to give money and you refuse. Sometimes, they just sit down under the shade, while those local boys harass drivers and park anyone who refuses to give money.
“My greatest unhappiness is about those boys. Because they are running errands for military men, if they look at you and feel you are not obeying them, they just park you. Very saucy people.” The above is the complaint of Mr Kelechi Okoro, a driver with one of the transport companies.
HURIWA further counselled the service chiefs and the inspector General of police to immediately act to stave off the continuous humiliation and human rights abuses against the civilians happening within the checkpoints and roadblocks mounted by soldiers just as the Rights group pointed to a report done by an investigative journalist which confirmed that the violations of the human rights of road users by soldiers and other operatives of the security services are deeply rooted, disturbing and pervasive demanding immediate, transparent and actionable steps to curb the menace.
HURIWA recalled that recently the investigative reporter with one of the frontline online media in Nigeria took a return trip from Awka to Enugu and back, through the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway and experienced first hand the plight of commuters on the road.
The journey, according to the reporter started from Aroma junction in Awka, through Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, down to Amansea, before exiting Anambra.
“But it was a surprise that at such a short stretch of road, which was less than four kilometres, this reporter encountered a Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) checkpoint, a Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) checkpoint, a navy checkpoint, a mobile police checkpoint and more, before exiting into Enugu State, which didn’t have less.
Checks showed that there are at least 20 checkpoints mounted by various security agencies, operating from Awka to Enugu, through the expressway, which is about 50 kilometres. This leaves drivers with their legs constantly on the brake pedal.
Although the high number of security checks could be attributed to the insecurity in the South-East, the attitude of the security men makes the situation more disturbing.
For example, during the return journey at Oji River axis, this reporter encountered a huge traffic at a checkpoint manned by mobile police operatives, but despite being cleared, the huge traffic ahead continued until it was ascertained that this was as a result of traffic caused by an army checkpoint ahead, which overflowed down to another police checkpoint.
Commuters, who spoke decried the frustration they faced on the road everyday.
According to Mr Okoro, a mass transit driver, whose lamentation was seen above, the confidence with which the security operatives block the roads and return to their cubicles, leaving errand boys to attend to motorists is what annoys him most.
For Mr Celestine Ugwunnwa, a passenger in Okoro’s bus, he is more concerned that as uncomfortable and hot as the bus is, the driver can never speed up to ease the discomfort of the passengers, as he has to keep applying brakes from one checkpoint to another.
“It is true that there is insecurity, but is this the best way to police the zone? Do we have to be punished so hard, before we can be policed? See how they just blocked the road. They are not conducting any checks so long as they get money from their errand boys who are working for them.
“The only time they come out is when those boys report to them that a driver refused to give money, or when they hear the sound of a siren, showing that a big man is coming. This is too bad,” he lamented.
A staff of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, who spoke to this investigative reporter being cited by HURIWA, said: “You people who are journalists, you need to write about the trouble we face to get to the office every day.
“Just from Awka to Unizik in Agu Awka, you meet Civil Defense, Road Safety, police and Navy. You people should ask what business the Navy has on our roads? Those navy people you see at Stanel Filling Station are people who were enlisted to guard that property, but instead of guarding the business place, they block the road and collect money from motorists. Is that how to provide security?
Recall that in December 2022, Anambra State Deputy Governor, Dr Onyekachi Ibezim had a major clash with military personnel at a roadblock at Amansea, an Anambra community that shares a common border with Enugu State.
Ibezim saw a long traffic of vehicles held at the checkpoint. The traffic was those of holiday makers, who were coming home from various places for the Christmas celebration. He immediately ordered the dismantling of the roadblocks and opening of the road for free flow of traffic.
The incident which happened during the yuletide quickly eased off traffic, but shortly after, the checkpoint resurfaced, and the operatives became even more daring in Anambra then as told in the aforementioned encounter with lawless security agents by the Deputy Governor of Anambra State.
(HURIWA Media)
