Maintaining that Nigeria is not Kenya where protests paralyzed recently, Defence Headquarters (DHQ) Abuja has told planners of the proposed August 1 protest that the law that allows them to protest against perceived economic hardship also allows the armed forces to preserve the country from nose-diving into anarchy. The corollary is for Nigerians to shun the looming danger because the military is battle-ready.
Director Defence Media Operations at the DHQ), Major General Edward Buba stated this on Thursday in Abuja at the regular bi-weekly media briefing on military activities and successes recorded in the various theaters of operations across the six geo-political zones of the country.
He explained that while the nation could not afford any other protest-induced chaos while currently battling with the hydra-headed but self-inflicted terrorism in the North East, illegal mining and kidnapping in the North West and North Central, kidnapping, armed agitations by outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and other Yoruba Nation, apart from other crimes and criminality.
Major General Buba maintained that while the planned protest might have also been influenced by antics of terrorists groups with ulterior motives to destabilize the country, no person or group is justified to plunge the nation and its law-abiding people into anarchy. Such people, he said, have the entire force and resolve of the armed forces to contend with except they desist.
He warned that the planned protest could be hijacked by interests with ulterior motives to plunge the nation into the Kenya-styled anarchy that has almost paralysed the lower middle-income economy of the East African nation whose GDP hit $150 billion this year though 16.1 percent of its population lives below global poverty line whereas Lagos State alone is Africa’s seventh largest economy bigger that Kenya and Cote d’Ivoire, two of Africa’s most promising economies.
Major General Buba advised the protest planners and their sponsors to use their tongues to count their teeth, cautioning them against acts that could endanger on-going efforts by the Federal Government to tackle socio-economic challenges of the country. He stressed that the Armed Forces will not fold its arm and watch the nation spin out of control because of the interests of certain misguided people.
”Pertaining to the planned nationwide protest, there are essentially several factors to be thoroughly examined. Some of which are whether or not the planned strike is motivated by opposition politics, independent parties, sovereign interference, terrorist groups or any numbers of organizations that have feed on the frustrations of Nigerians to create the situation.
“However, for us in the military, the constitution is clear as to how and when the military gets involved. The constitution also clearly defines the roles and functions of the armed forces. On the other hand, while citizens have a constitutional right to peaceful protest, they do not have a right to mobilise for anarchy in order to unleash terror.
“The contemporary context of the planned protest is to shadow happenings in Kenya which has so far been violent and unresolved to date. Given the situation, there are already indicators that, unscrupulous elements are bent on hijacking the planned protest for violent purposes.
“For instance, there are signs of status related violence such that persons with things as basic as a smart phone and car are targets. This does not leave out those that own a house, shop, or even use air conditioner in their houses. Other targets include places of worship, businesses, markets, persons of other ethnic groups and members of opposing political party among others.
“Based on the foregoing, the level of violence envisaged is best described as a state of anarchy. It is for this reason the armed forces will not watch and allow the nation spiral out of control to such low levels”, he said.
”Basically, the military has been exposed to wars and have witnessed situations of anarchy in countries ravaged by war, particularly during ECOMOG or during peacekeeping operations. It is for this reason that, troops will act dutifully to forestall such ugly occurrences from happening in our nation.
“On the whole, citizens are urged to note that, both the timing and the atmosphere of hardship in the country make the planned protest different from others in the past. It is therefore incumbent upon us all, to quench the fires of violence rather than ignite them.
“It is time to let cool heads prevail in order for government to further remedy the situation and make our nation flourish again”, he said.
Meanwhile, away from the protest, he spoke on ongoing military operations across the country, disclosing that in the past week troops neutralized 106 and arrested 164 persons, adding that while 32 perpetrators of oil theft were arrested 103 kidnapped persons were rescued.
“During the week under review, troops neutralised 106 and arrested 164 persons. Troops also arrested 32 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 103 kidnapped hostages. In the South South, troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Seven Hundred and Ninety Three Million, Five Hundred and Thirty Six Thousand Naira (N793, 536, 000.00) only.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 125 assorted weapons and 1,522 assorted ammunition. The breakdown as follows: 41 AK47 rifles, one PKT gun, 24 locally fabricated gun, 28 dane guns, one pump action gun, 755 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 623 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 102 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 63 live cartridges, 247 empty case of 7.62mm ammo, 22 AK47 magazines, one baofeng radio, 22 vehicles, 31 motorcycles, 2 bicycles, 10 mobile phones and the sum of N2, 956, 000.00 only, amongst other items.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area discovered and destroyed 20 dugout pits, 24 boats and 34 storage tanks. Other items recovered include 56 cooking ovens, 2 speedboats, 14 pumping machines, 18 drums, 22 vehicles, 4 motorcycles and 36 illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 802,200 litres of stolen crude oil, 121,900 litres of illegally refined AGO and 450 litres of DPK,” he said.
