In at least four instances between March and May, soldiers with the full backing of military authorities infringed on people's rights and hampered the operation of businesses.
On 29 May, Nigeria marked the 25th anniversary of the Fourth Republic, its most extended era of democracy since attaining independence on 1 October 1960.
Since marching back into their barracks in 1999, ending 29 years of military rule, the soldiers have faced their statutory responsibility of protecting the country against external aggression and assisting the police and other paramilitary agencies in combating internal security threats. However, Nigerian soldiers have failed in many instances to subordinate themselves to civil authority and respect the rights and freedom of citizens.
Chapter four (Sections 33-46) of the Nigerian constitution is dedicated to the fundamental human rights of Nigerians. But in at least four instances between March and May this year, soldiers infringed those rights and hampered the operation of businesses.
Avenging armed separatists' crime on Aba residents
On Thursday, 30 May, five soldiers were killed when armed separatists ambushed them at a checkpoint in Obikabia Junction in the commercial city of Aba, Abia State.
The masked assailants were enforcing the illegal sit-at-home order of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) when they attacked the soldiers around 8 a.m. The day after, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, said it was "imperative that the military retaliate" the killing of the soldiers.
"The military will be fierce in its response," Mr Buba, a major general, said. "We will bring overwhelming military pressure on the group to ensure their total defeat."
Surprisingly, however, the retaliation targeted residents of Aba, especially those near the ambush scene.
Many residents, including a 15-year-old boy and his sister, were arrested, PREMIUM TIMES reported.
According to Innocent Omale, the spokesperson of the 14 Brigade of the Nigeria Army in Ohafia, Abia State, those arrested were later released.
The Abuja Banex Plaza incident
On 18 May, 15 men were filmed when they assaulted two soldiers after a face-off at Banex Plaza in the Wuse 2 District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Shortly after, soldiers on a retaliation mission stormed the plaza and forced traders to close their businesses. The siege lasted over a week, with innocent traders kept away from their source of livelihood.
"In response to this unfortunate incident, a meeting was convened with the management of Banex Plaza to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of this heinous act by temporarily shutting down activities in the plaza...," Army spokesperson Onyenma Nwachukwu, a major general, later said.
Although the military said it was to allow an investigation into the soldiers' assault, observers said any closure of businesses in the plaza should have been decided by civil authorities such as the Abuja Municipal Area Council, where the plaza is located.
A human rights lawyer, Mojirayo Ogunlana, who spoke to PREMIUM TIMES, condemned the assault on the soldiers but also criticised the military for its action.
"It is wrong morally, it is wrong legally, it is unlawful, it is unconstitutional and should not be allowed in a democratic setting," she said of the military's action.
The army reopened the plaza ten days after it was closed. However, some shops were sanctioned.
An international non-governmental organisation, Global Rights, faulted the military for turning a thriving commercial hub into a scene of military intimidation.
"This action violates the rights of many law-abiding Nigerians who rely solely on earnings from their businesses to make ends meet," the organisation's executive director, Abiodun Baiyewu, declared in a statement.
She noted that Articles 6(1) and 7 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Nigeria is a signatory, were violated.
"The Nigerian Army should, therefore, not be an obstacle to people enjoying this right," she stated.
Vengeance in Okuama?
In another heinous attack on 14 March, a mob killed some soldiers deployed by the Nigerian Army on a peace mission to Okuama, a riverine community in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.
The military delegation was responding to a distress call arising from a clash between Okuama and Okoloba communities in the state.
The Army initially said 16 soldiers were killed, but it later posted the names and photos of 17 soldiers, including the commander (a lieutenant colonel), two majors, one captain and 13 soldiers.
In what looked like reprisal, the community was razed two days after the killings of the soldiers, per a report by Channels Television.
The military claimed no one was killed during the reprisal. The Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, a major-general, said the community was already deserted when the troops arrived there.
A month later, the state governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, promised to rebuild the community.
Abduction of journalist in Lagos
In blatant disregard for press freedom, some soldiers abducted the editor of an online publication, FirstNews, Segun Olatunji, from his Lagos residence on 15 March.
After 13 days in a military detention facility, Mr Olatunji narrated how he was moved to the National Air Defense Corps (NADC) office at the Air Force Base, Ikeja, the capital of Lagos State. There, Mr Olatunji said he was blindfolded and flown to a detention facility in Abuja.
The journalist was released after several groups intervened, including the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Nigerian Guild of Editors, and the International Press Institute (IPI) Nigeria.
Implications for the country's democracy
Incidents like these have grievous implications for the country's democracy.
The military's actions have not only caused harm to individuals and communities, but they can also undermine the government and its institutions. The use of excessive force on civilians is a hallmark of authoritarian regimes, not democracies.
The Nigerian government must ensure that the military is held accountable for its actions and that measures are taken to prevent such incidents from happening again.
Data obtained from the Economic Intelligence Unit, a research and analysis branch of the Economist Group, revealed that Nigeria scored 4.23 and was ranked 104 globally in the Democracy Index for 2023, earning Africa's largest democracy the title of a "hybrid democracy."
According to the data, the country ranked 19th in Sub-Saharan Africa in the Index, an annual ranking of democracies. The Index divides countries into four categories: full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid democracies, and authoritarian regimes, based on five main areas: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation, and political culture.
The measure ranks full democracies as 8.0 to 10.0, flawed democracies as 6.0 to 8.0, hybrid democracies as 4.0 to 6.0, and authoritarian governments as 0 to 4.0.
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'Military finding it difficult to accept democratic reality'
A human rights lawyer, Festus Ogun, said the Nigerian military officers "are finding it very difficult to face democratic reality."
"Many of them still think we still run a military regime where the rule of law means nothing and where fundamental rights of citizens are encroached upon at the slightest provocation," he told PREMIUM TIMES, adding that it is illegal and unconstitutional for the military to attack citizens.
Mr Ogun, who heads FOLEGAL, a law firm in Lagos, said the military's anti-democratic conduct persists because President Bola Tinubu, who commands the armed forces, is "complicit or complacent."
A retired major of the Nigerian Army and military attorney, Mike Kebonkwu, also expressed his dissatisfaction over the recent incidents.
"I am worried about the recent approaches, but we have to understand the context," Mr Kebonkwu told PREMIUM TIMES.
According to him, the military deserves maximum respect from the people it protects.
"We should respect our officers," he cautioned. "But if they fall out of line, they must be punished."
Mr Kebonkwu added, "There is a civil-military desk that deals with such cases."
"It is, however, a different thing when soldiers are attacked on duty," he continued, adding the military must respond decisively but not in a "manner that targets innocent civilians."
The retired military attorney, who declined to comment on the alleged retaliation on the community because the matter was being handled in the court, condemned the killings of soldiers in Aba but equally criticised the military's response that targeted residents of the commercial city.
"There should be a measured response," he reiterated, adding that those who killed the soldiers should be the target of the military.
