Nigerian soldiers’ propensity for brutality and extrajudicial killings continues to embarrass the country and its military. In a fresh incident on Monday, a soldier in the Babana community of Borgu Local Government Area, Niger State, shot a nursing mother and her infant to death. The fatal bullet was fired because a commercial motorcyclist, who was transporting the victims, allegedly refused to pay the soldier a N200 bribe at a checkpoint. The shot struck the rider’s stomach before killing the mother and child; the rider remains in critical condition. Such avoidable loss of life demands a critical re‑engineering of the mindset of some military personnel, with the perpetrators brought to justice and their commanders held accountable.
Other cases of lawlessness by soldiers abound. Recently, a secondary‑school pupil named Pelumi and a tricycle operator, Aloma, were killed by soldiers attached to the Operation MESA security outfit in Makoko, a backwater community in Yaba, Lagos State. Reports indicate that two political factions clashed after the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections; one faction summoned soldiers who stormed the community and allegedly opened fire on residents, leaving Pelumi and Aloma dead. Operation MESA was created to complement anti‑violent crime law enforcement, yet some operatives interfere in minor civilian disputes.
In 2018, George Oyekan of Ogun State was beaten to death by soldiers from the 174 Battalion Barracks, Ogijo, after a rent dispute with his landlady. In March 2022, soldiers from the Nigerian Army Battalion, Ibodi, Ilesa, Osun State, battered car dealer Adeyinka Adekunle to death following an argument at a pub; he was reportedly forced to eat his own vomit during torture in the barracks. The belligerence extends beyond civilians. In January 2023, a soldier assaulted traffic wardens after a bus driver he encouraged to drive against traffic was arrested in Lagos. A similar incident occurred in November 2022, when soldiers battered a police officer and a Lagos State Traffic Management Authority official on Eko Bridge after being asked to desist from a traffic violation. In August 2022, six unruly soldiers driving against traffic dragged two police officers on duty to the Ojo Army Cantonment, Lagos, where they beat Officer Monday Orube to death. Police Inspector Hosea Yakubu was likewise killed by soldiers at Eleme, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in 2020. In 2011, soldiers from Ibereko Barracks, Badagry, Lagos State, murdered a Divisional Police Officer, a Divisional Crime Officer, and eight other police officers while protesting the killing of their colleagues.
The National Human Rights Commission lamented that during the first weeks of the COVID‑19 lockdown in 2020, police and military personnel killed 18 people, while the virus itself had claimed only 12 lives. Amnesty International reported that between 2011 and 2022, hundreds of civilians died in military custody, with justice remaining elusive for victims and their families.
In many developed nations, military service is an asset in political life; 31 of the 45 U.S. presidents had prior military experience. In Nigeria, however, a minority of soldiers act as brutal bullies, turning on civilians with impunity. Responsibility for ending this lies with the Service Chiefs, the defence minister, and ultimately the Presidency. When British soldier Lee Rigby was killed by two Nigerian‑born Britons in London in May 2013, the suspects were arrested, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment without military interference. In Nigeria, attacks on soldiers often provoke retaliatory assaults on entire villages, reflecting a lack of strong aversion to such carnage by commanders and political leaders. A recent allegation that a police officer killed a soldier in Ogijo, Ogun State, reportedly led to the burning of a police station and a patrol van in retaliation.
Impunity persists, even though Nigerian troops are well‑behaved on foreign peacekeeping missions. The United Nations noted that Nigerian forces formed the backbone of the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia from 2003 to 2018. State governors should insist on adequate punishment for errant military personnel. In July 2012, former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola arrested an army colonel and a staff sergeant for a traffic offence, publicly shamed them and handed them over for sanctions—a practice that should be emulated by all state executives. Military officers who commit crimes should, after internal disciplinary action, be transferred to the police for prosecution, and police commissioners must demand justice for their personnel who are brutalised or killed by soldiers.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, and the Service Chiefs must resolve to end lawless behaviour that embarrasses the military. Nigerians appreciate the military’s role in national defence; these men and women have voluntarily signed up to protect the nation’s sovereignty, often proving their mettle at home and abroad. They should be celebrated as heroes, not bullies. The errant minority discredits the institution by violently oppressing civilians. The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), the Service Chiefs, senior commanders and NCOs must act decisively to stop indiscipline and preserve the respect and dignity of this reputable, unifying institution.
Comments are closed for this story.