“There is no nation that can survive without the police.” Gen. Christopher Gwabin Musa
According to Google, mutiny is any overt act of defiance or attack upon military (including naval) authority by two or more persons subject to such authority.
Also, the Collins English Dictionary defines a mutiny as a refusal by people, usually soldiers or sailors, to continue obeying a person in authority.
My write-up is titled “ADAMAWA’S DISGRACEFUL DEED: WILL THE ARMY CHIEF STAY SILENT?” https://swiftreporters.com/adamawas-disgraceful-deed-will-the-army-chief-stay-silent/ generated lots of applause from those who appreciated the role of Nigeria Police in the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, and the protection of life and property.
What the soldiers did at Police Command Headquarters in Adamawa State could have derailed our nascent democracy had the police not handled the matter with caution.
Sudan came to mind when I analysed the Adamawa Police Headquarters invasion very well this morning.
On April 15, residents of Khartoum woke up to chaotic scenes as armoured vehicles from both forces careered through the streets, with heavy artillery fire ringing throughout the city and fighter jets roaring in the skies above.
The vicious war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has hit the eight-month mark, with hostilities showing no signs of winding down despite a dire humanitarian situation that has left more than half the country in desperate need of aid.
Sudan was plunged into chaos in mid-April when a deepening power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo exploded into an all-out conflict. Since then, the country has sunk deeper into crisis.
In the Sudan case, the crisis started with less than five armoured vehicles, but the soldiers in Adamawa decided to invade a government facility, the police headquarters, with 12 truckloads of soldiers. In a sane country, the Commander of the 23-Armoured Brigade, Brig-Gen. Gambo Mohammed would have resigned or redeployed back to the Army Headquarters.
One particular incident I could remember was on June 1st, 2020 when personnel of the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police Force clashed in Zaria over a judgement passed by a mobile court sitting at Agoro in Zaria local government area of Kaduna state against a soldier for violating the state’s lockdown order.
The fracas erupted when a policeman arrested the soldier and arraigned him before the court for violating the lockdown order.
The soldier was tried and fined the sum of N5,000, and his motorcycle was impounded pending payment of the fine.
He left his motorcycle and rushed down to his barracks, some metres away from the court, and invited his colleagues to forcefully retrieve his bike from the court without paying the fine, but the police attached to the court denied him access to the bike.
The soldiers came in their numbers and fired many gunshots into the air; fortunately, there was no casualty during the fracas.
The court magistrate and other court staff narrowly escaped from miscreants who almost set a filling station on fire.
The Army authority never took any action on the ugly incidents, and this has given the soldiers the power to commit more dastardly acts, not only to the police but also to judicial officials.
In his wisdom, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, and other senior military officers visited the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, to strengthen the working relationship between the police and personnel of the military in the task of securing the nation both internally and against external aggression as a result of the Adamawa shameful act by the soldiers.
General Christopher Gwabin Musa decried the unfortunate attack on the Adamawa State Police Command by some soldiers and assured that a thorough investigation had been launched into the incident.
I was watching out for the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, in the entourage of the Chief of Defence Staff; unfortunately, I couldn’t see him.
I expected Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja to have visited the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, immediately after that dastardly act took place as part of the synergy put in place by the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Force, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The past Chief of Army Staff has tolerated the excesses of some soldiers and their disdain for civil institutions for too long, and it seems Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja wants to follow the same step.
The commander of the 23-Armoured Brigade, Brig-Gen. Gambo Mohammed, who authorised the lawless mission, should have been court-martialed for mutiny.
At this point, I joined the IGP in calling for a thorough and transparent investigation to prevent a repeat of the unfortunate incident.
For the Nigeria Army to regain its lost professionalism, discipline, and order within the armed forces, the outcome of the investigation must nip in the bud—the act of above the law by Nigerian Armed Forces personnel.
The soldiers who shot Inspector Jacob Daniel should be turned over to the police for additional inquiry and possible prosecution because they are murder suspects.
New rules of engagement that prohibit unit commanders from using force against civilians without permission from the highest civilian authorities shall be enforced by Chief of Staff General Christopher Gwabin Musa.
The Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Army Staff must act decisively today to stamp out lawlessness and the culture of impunity among some of their personnel.
Adewole Kehinde is the publisher of Swift Reporters and can be reached via 08166240846, kennyadewole@gmail.com