Friday (4th of July, 2014) was a very sad day for the Rule of Law in Lagos. Some soldiers ran amok ostensibly to avenge the death of their colleague who was allegedly killed by a bus belonging to LAGBUS. The soldiers harassed innocent citizens, beat up some of them, burnt some buses, caused traffic to be held up for hours on Ikorodu Road and disrupted the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Service throughout the day thereby causing the public untold hardship.
The action of the soldiers is totally unjustifiable. As military men, they need not be told to respect constituted civil authority and how to channel their grievances for appropriate action. Sadly, in what smacks of petty politics, the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Musliu Obanikoro, hurriedly issued a statement via his Twitter account denying the culpability of personnel of the Nigeria Army claiming that he had been "fully briefed" about the matter by the Army High Command. The spokesman for the Albati Army Barrack in Ojuelegba, Lagos, where the unruly soldiers are based, was quoted as saying that "area boys" were responsible for the mayhem not soldiers. What investigation was conducted by the Nigeria Army to arrive at such a preposterous conclusion?
Incidents such as this should not be tolerated. Many military personnel seem to believe they are exempted from compliance with the laws of the land. In Lagos, it is common to see military and paramilitary personnel flout the legislation and use the BRT Corridor with impunity. The Governor of Lagos State, Gov. Babatunde Raji Fashola, once caught an Army Colonel being driven in his official vehicle on the BRT lane at CMS Bus stop, Marina.
The National Assembly should wade into the matter and carry out a thorough investigation of the incident. The soldiers who were involved should be identified and severely punished. The message should be clear: no one is above the law.
God bless Nigeria.
Nigeria di fure!
The action of the soldiers is totally unjustifiable. As military men, they need not be told to respect constituted civil authority and how to channel their grievances for appropriate action. Sadly, in what smacks of petty politics, the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Musliu Obanikoro, hurriedly issued a statement via his Twitter account denying the culpability of personnel of the Nigeria Army claiming that he had been "fully briefed" about the matter by the Army High Command. The spokesman for the Albati Army Barrack in Ojuelegba, Lagos, where the unruly soldiers are based, was quoted as saying that "area boys" were responsible for the mayhem not soldiers. What investigation was conducted by the Nigeria Army to arrive at such a preposterous conclusion?
Incidents such as this should not be tolerated. Many military personnel seem to believe they are exempted from compliance with the laws of the land. In Lagos, it is common to see military and paramilitary personnel flout the legislation and use the BRT Corridor with impunity. The Governor of Lagos State, Gov. Babatunde Raji Fashola, once caught an Army Colonel being driven in his official vehicle on the BRT lane at CMS Bus stop, Marina.
The National Assembly should wade into the matter and carry out a thorough investigation of the incident. The soldiers who were involved should be identified and severely punished. The message should be clear: no one is above the law.
God bless Nigeria.
Nigeria di fure!
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