A recent clash involving the police and the military in Adanawa State, which left an Army personnel and a policeman dead, has drawn condemnations from all and sundry.The recent ferocious attack on the police headquarters in the state, by some lawless military personnel is one of the too many cases of the military impunity and brutality in Nigeria. This sad event serves as an inescapable wake-up call to  caution on the excessiveness of the military. The security chiefs must rise up to abate the ugly and unruly monstrous act.

IN the instant case, reports said the incident was the result of overzealousness from men in the security agencies. The troops were reacting after an altercation between some soldiers and police officers at a checkpoint in Jimeta, Yola, where one soldier was injured. And in their usual way of taking offence, the military men chose to take the laws into their hands, went to the police station and gave them thorough beatings, which consequently led to the loss of two precious lives including Inspector Jacob Daniel.It is of note, that the frenzy and unrest has brought palpable fear and intolerable cruelty on innocent Nigerians who sometimes are victims of lawlessness.

BY strange coincident, barely five days after the ugly incident, on Sunday again, the Nigerian Army reportedly dropped a bomb on Tudun Biri in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State which left no fewer than 30 residents dead while unconfirmed reports put the casualities at 120. The Overseeing Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs in Kaduna State, Samuel Aruwan, in a statement, said the Nigerian Army has claimed responsibility for the incident while he noted that the General Officer Commanding, 1 Division, Nigerian Army and Force Commander Operation Whirl Punch, Maj Gen VU Okoro, admitted that the army was on a routine mission against terrorists when the incident occurred.We commend President Bola Tinubu, who in a swift action, has directed “a thorough and full-fledged investigation” into the bombing mishap in a village at Tudun Biri. He also directed comprehensive medical attention for surviving victims.

EARLIER in November, unruly Nigerian Air Force officers attacked the Kaduna office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), over the arrest of some fraud suspects involving their men. Also in August, soldiers at a checkpoint seized a car from a driver at Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos, and murdered him. In June, soldiers guarding a private organisation in Magboro, Ogun State, shot a driver, whose only “offence” was that he parked in front of the company.Also in December 2022, some officers of the Nigerian Navy stabbed an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Hezekiah Abiona, to death, over an argument that ensued after the soldiers violated traffic regulations in Lagos.Soldiers went on the rampage again in 2014, burning down BRT buses on Ikorodu Road, Lagos, after claiming that a BRT bus killed a colleague riding his motorcycle illegally on a BRT lane.

THE Nigerian military are habitual law breakers. The Hope notes that men of the military continue to misbehave because they feel they are above the law and they can always have their ways. They take laws into their hands to get justice. And if they do not get that off their mentality, they will continue to misbehave. These past and present actions of the lawless militarypersonnel is  marked by extreme lack of restraint or control and paints a damning picture of their ruthless excessive force.

WE, therefore, condemn such impunity in its entirety. Soldiers’ brutal attacks on civilians and law enforcement personnel have included arson, wanton destruction of property, and murder. Inspector Jacob Daniel is their latest victim.Rather than play the primary role of defending the nation and its citizenry, the ‘Khaki’ guys’ have resorted to cruel treatment of the people. We understand injustice and illegal trial is in their training, however, they should understand that we are not in the military era.

AS we appeal to the police not to go beyond their bounds in engaging in violence, we equally call on the army not to further throw caution into the winds, but put their aggression under control.We passionately appeal to both the military and the police to sheath their swords and work together in harmony. They are sister security agencies that should work hand in hand in securing and protecting people’s lives and properties. The Hope, therefore calls on the President of Nigeria, the security chiefs and major stakeholders to take further  proactive steps and checkmate the lawlessness of the military to forestall future recurrence.