By SUNNY IKHIOYA

AGAIN, history is repeating itself. A dejavu. We have seen it all before: Odi, Zaki-Biam, nothing has changed. You touch the ‘anointed’ members of the Armed Forces, and you receive the reward. It is an unwritten law: do not inflict violence on the uniformed men – police, army, and others – you will surely get a more than retaliatory response. That is the situation of the people of Okuama, a community in the riverine area of Delta State, whose misinformed youth dared to engage in the sacrilegious. But how did we get to this sorry pass? How did our so much revered members of the Armed Forces,  the Army in particular, become so demystified? 

That is the question for our politicians, the Presidency and the two Chambers of our National Assembly that are falling over themselves to set up investigating committees. How did it happen that gallant members of the Armed Forces, with senior officers, could so easily be wasted in peace times? This should be the focus of the multiple investigations going on, including that of the Armed Forces themselves. When all the sentiments have died down, anger dissipated and the authorities ready to face the realities of our times, with dispassionate focus, we must be able to come to a reasonable conclusion that will prevent a recurrence of such embarrassing situation in future. 

Following the development, there were reports of army reprisal attack on the village of Okuama, with collateral damages strewn all over the land; innocent people killed, houses razed, and villages deserted. Even though this has been denied by the military authorities, such an action cannot be the solution? Can’t we find a better and more intelligent means of bringing the culprits to book? Any planned reprisal actions will only amount to throwing away the baby with the bath water. Have such reprisal methods worked in the past? If you destroy the evidence in a state of anger, how will you arrive at the truth of the whole matter? Again, the question? How did our army become cheap targets for ‘bloody civilians’? Let us start with the message of William Adama of Battlestar Galactica. He said: “There is a reason why you separate the military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state. The other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people. 

“Have we not abused the use of our military personnel? There was once upon a time in our land, when you see the army in their resplendent grandeur, spritely discipline and charisma, you are left in awe. How do you lay your hands on such a special breed? You dare not. Today, they are mixed with the crowd, and both have become one. We are now all ‘bloody civilians ‘. The aura surrounding the military is being gradually demystified, climaxing in such scenes that played out at Okuama. What am I trying to say? We should take the military back to it’s original role of securing our territorial integrity and borders from violation on land, sea or air’ and ensure the protection of the legitimate government in place.

It is time to go back to the issue of local policing and the re-enforcement of our federal police service. There is no longer time to waste. Every state must be able to secure its territory from non-state actors who have suddenly become ubiquitous in the country. We must resolve that what happened at Okuama will never happen again in our land, first by restoring the army to its former glory, as an unbiased, well trained, disciplined and imposing force, which must be seen outside only when necessary. It must be free from bias of religion,  ethnic and nepotistic sentiments. The army used to have a common bond, forged along the path of their training and development; their loyalty is first to that bond. I hope we still have that in place. 

To lose high calibre officers and soldiers up to double-digit numbers, when we are not at war, is very galling. The army must redeem its image and prestige, and the time to start is now. I will re-emphasise the fact that we have consciously or unconsciously allowed non-state actors to rear their ugly heads in the land. They have now become big obstacles to peace and security all over. If you dig deep and investigate the backgrounds of those lads who perpetrate those dastardly acts, you will not be surprised that they belong to the kidnapping and murdering gangs causing havoc in that part of the country. They have their own rules and run their own territories, with nobody to call them to order. Some of them even serve as hired enforcers to settle personal or private scores. 

When you take security to the grassroots level, everyone knows the other; criminal tendencies are formed at very early stages of their lives. This will be known to those in charge, who will keep them under constant monitoring. Going side by side with this will be the empowerment of our local authorities and traditional institutions. When we are talking about non-kinetic solutions to criminality, these are the areas that we should be looking at. It involves a lot of intelligence gathering and constant surveillance, of which everyone in the environment must be factored in. It will also require that we put in place good governance at the local levels. The solution must be holistic. 

When you have a local politician behaving in a reckless and irresponsible manner, you will expect that his followers will behave in the same manner. Every organisation or body, including unions like the NURTW – National Union of Road Transport Workers – must be properly structured to operate in decent and civilised manners. By the time we put local security and their likes in place, we will not require thugs and other non-state actors to do the enforcement for government, like we are presently witnessing. 

Any government that encourages thuggery as a means to win elections or sustain itself in power is only setting itself up for implosion at a future date. The thugs are never satiated. That is the situation now all over the country. Our police force must be upgraded to cope with the modern dynamics of criminality – well trained, groomed, equipped, and professional force – that will be abreast of all the criminal trends in our land.

*Ikhioya wrote via: http://www.southsouthecho.com