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Nigeria: We Don't Have Militants in N-Delta But Misguided Children -Lt. Gen. Yusuf, Army Chief
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Vanguard (Lagos)
13 July 2008
Posted to the web 13 July 2008
Kingsley Omonobi
As part of activities marking this year's Nigerian Army Day celebration, the Chief of the Army Staff, Lt. General Luka Nyeh Yusuf, spoke in an interview on developments within the army since he assumed office. Excerpts:
WHY is the army very aggressive in handling internal security crisis?
We are pleading to Nigerians to understand that everything has a limit. Demonstrations that will lead to the destruction of properties are retrogressive. Yes we know that in some instances, the people can protest and question certain occurrences or actions but we must know that there is a limit. In the event of continuous conflict, negative conflict, there will be retrogression.
So we are advising Nigerians to ensure that their conflict did not become retrogressive to development and threaten public peace. That is the reason we advise that once the police come out during conflicts, whoever is aggrieved should take that as interest by government to see that whatever the problem, it is resolved there and then.
Any time soldiers come out, we come out as the final move to make sure the law is not violated and in our case we must make sure that the law is obeyed. It is just like it happened in the civil war and, as you have been told, it ended in no victor no vanquished because we are all Nigerians, even though we all lost in one way or the other. So we are appealing to Nigerians to always weigh the way they come out to express themselves in disagreements involving policies.
Internal unrest
I will like to also re-iterate that the Nigerian Army has the constitutional right to protect the nation against external aggression and internal unrest, which may threaten the sovereignty of the country. That is why we say we are one of the major pillars of democracy. For instance, if you note, in our country today, every government lasts for only four years but the Nigerian Armed forces and indeed the Nigerian army remains permanent, so invariably we are the pillars of democracy. Every politician, every government serves four years and goes back. I am sure every officer, every soldier in the Nigerian Army understands this matrix now and we are not only ready to live up to expectation but we understand that it is only through peace that our country can move forward in development and whatever aspect of international endeavours.
What is the situation concerning missing arms in the army and what steps have been put in place to checkmate further occurrence?
With regard to loss of weapons, it is not a new thing. This is not the first time weapons are lost in an army like Nigerian. It is just like in a family, anytime something is missing, the mother or father will call the children and ask them why that thing is missing. And so if we discover that our weapons or anything is missing in the army, we normally have a board of inquiry which was done and whatever is responsible, we make sure that there is no repetition and that is routine in the military.
There is complaint that the 15% increase in salaries of soldiers is yet to be implemented. What is the position?
Look, salary arrears and most of the things you are talking about have been sorted out. Infact, most of these things you are talking about are things we read in the papers. For us in the army, these things sound very strange to us. I can assure you that our soldiers are satisfied with whatever they are being paid to perform their duties.
The recent actions in some villages in Edo, Delta and Bayelsa states ostensibly to flush out militants, some allege, did not have the backing of the Chief of Defence Staff. Why was this so?
As for Niger Delta, I keep on telling people that that area is like any other part of Nigeria. Nobody has declared either a state of emergency or any war against Niger Delta. We are in Niger delta just like we are in Sokoto, Katsina or we are in Borno, as we are in Kaduna and indeed in Abuja. If you see a soldier in uniform and you seize his weapon, you can be sure that, that soldier will not allow you to go free.
He will chase you and get his weapon back. In Niger Delta, some soldiers lost their weapons. These weapons were returned but ammunitions were not returned and they have to get them back because, as I told you, it is mandatory that if any weapons or ammunitions are missing, as far as I am concerned, they have to get them back. So they don't need any order from the Chief of the Defence Staff or the Chief of the Army Staff to tell them that they have to recover the arms and ammunitions that some children in Niger Delta took from soldiers. Mark you, I don't call them militants, you are the ones that call them militants, it means I will have a different condition and approach for them. But as far as I am concerned, they are just misguided children.
Some people have questioned the rationale behind Nigeria taking part in the AFRICOM project. Two, can you throw more light on you earlier submission that the army is a pillar of democracy?
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There are no controversies surrounding the African Command. They are ideas. People either accept or reject them. African Command, government has not asked us to have a say in it. What I am saying is that, it is the government that will tell us their stand and what to do and how to fit it in. We are an army under democracy and so we don't have our independent ideas as far as international issues are concerned or rather our ideas should be a fall-out of whatever the government directs us to do. Its like structures you put in place when you are building a house.
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Dear Oga Army, I realise the difficult choices facing you and your colleagues in the matter of "Nigeria versus Riverine boys". As an indegene of the most riverine part of Nigeria, I have a vested interest in this matter. My concern as an ex-khaki man is that it is impossible for the armed forces of Nigeria to identify their military targets without inflicting colateral damage to my people. You remember the Odi thing. You also remember the events in Victor Malu's area. The case of Malu's people (a spanish word meaning... [Read Full Text]
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