Of course, when the enemy comes, determined to turn you to history, you reach for whatever is at reach and handy to hit back. Or do you grovel on your knees like a coward? No, when driven to the wall, you must fight back, otherwise, you are a relic for the dustbin. I remember my one-time lecturer, Professor Larry Grobel
, with his never-tired saying: “When the nail strikes the hammer, that is the beginning of revolution.”
And so on Monday, July 2, 2018, I saw the nail striking the hammer as it were, and I perceived the die was cast. All along in my life, I only heard or read of some security men, especially soldiers and policemen, going on strike or protesting. However, on this fateful day I witnessed armed mobile policemen in aggressive mood protesting publicly in Maiduguri against non-payment of their seven months allowances and alleged sale of promotion in the police force.
On this day in question, at about 7am, the people of Maiduguri came face-to-face with fierce-looking armed mobile policemen in battle mood chanting war songs and taking over a portion of the Maiduguri-Kano Trunk A road that presents the police headquarters, schools and tertiary institutions.
The protesters made the place a no-go area to traffic, as the affected zone appeared quarantined. For the motorists and pedestrians to avoid this volatile zone is the beginning of wisdom, more so that sounds of gunshot fired into the air by the mobile policemen were heart-rending, amidst shots of canisters of tear-gas.
While all the educational institutions in the area were shut, motorists became stranded for hours, while some workers went back home. Others who heard the news also stayed back at home. Initially, rumours went round that the insurgents were in Maiduguri and had taken over the police headquarters and this heightened tension, but hours later, the rumours were debunked.
The protesting policemen who said they were drafted from various squadrons in the country to beef up security in Maiduguri as a result of the insurgency, lamented the inhuman treatment they had been subjected to since arrival, pointing out that “enough is enough”, as they were prepared to face the music and call for the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In the words of some of the protesters, “We are dying here; they brought us to Borno Command from different squadrons and for seven months, we never received our allowances, no accommodation, no food; we slept in open places.
“Some of our personnel here lost their children and wives simply because they could not afford health services. Enough is enough,” one of the protesters said.
The spokesman of the Borno State Police Command, Edet Okon, A Deputy Superintendent of Police, confirmed having the knowledge of the protest, adding that the Police High Command was aware of the plight of the affected, and was already in touch with appropriate Federal Government agencies towards addressing the situation. He added that since the 2018 budget had been signed by the President, the allowance was expected to be paid soonest.
However, the Force Headquarters Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, an acting Deputy Commissioner of Police, denied the occurrence of any protest. He said, in a statement, “The Force wish to categorically state that it is not correct that police personnel protested in Maiduguri today, 2nd July, 2018. Some of the police mobile force personnel on special duty in Maiduguri went to the Borno State Police Command headquarters on enquiry over the delay in the payment of their special duty allowance in the early hours of today and not on protest as reported in some media.”
Moshood went on, “The Inspector General of Police, IGP Ibrahim K. Idris, promptly directed the Commissioner of Police, Borno State to address and inform them why there was delay in the payment of their special allowance, and also assure them that since the budget had been approved, the allowance would be expeditiously processed and paid without any further delay. They subsequently returned to their duty posts.”
The Yoruba have a saying which literarily applies that a hungry man is an angry man. In short, except one fulfils the obligation demanded by the stomach, every other thing is objectionable and unacceptable. A hungry man, when angry, is dangerous and becomes more dangerous when he is holding the gun, as neither himself nor anyone else is safe.
The open protest of the policemen involved might run contrary to the military norms of resolving dispute. On the other hand, what moral justification has the authority or the establishment to withhold the allowance of personnel on outstation assignment, more so in a war zone for such a length of time? The affected riot policemen have families and other commitments. If anything at all, the welfare of outstation staff should take precedence over other staff. This becomes imperative in case of the concerned policemen who might be tempted in the outstation post to compromise their position in the guise of want, as a result of undue pressure of needs. The protest by the policemen might not be in conformity with military procedure, but compelling expediency cannot be ignored or waved aside.
It may not be out of place at this juncture to remind or advise the military on the need to be sensitive to the mood of its men, and to look inwards with a view to making amends where possible or desirable in some of its operations. This is to avoid not only internal squabbles, but also, public embarrassment, which might affect negatively, the image of the establishment. For example, apart from the current issue of the protest of the mobile policemen in discourse, two previous episodes happened in Maiduguri some time back that did not enhance the image of the military. One could recall an occasion when at the Maimalari Barracks, the life of an officer in the rank of a General was threatened when some soldiers opened fire at the officer who miraculously escaped.
The concerned soldiers were alleged to have resorted to this deadly action on the grounds that the commander concerned was said to have been responsible for the death of some soldiers in the state, following his ill-advice with regard to the movement of the victims to Maiduguri. It was similarly alleged the commander, fully aware of the inadequacies with regard to the supply of arms and equipment still, deployed troops in the fronts. The commander concerned had since been redeployed from Maiduguri while the soldiers concerned were said to have been charged for mutiny.
Similarly, it was in the same Maiduguri when wives of soldiers openly protested to the military hierarchy against sending their husbands to the war fronts without adequate arms, equipment and logistics. All these happenings which do not portray the good image of the military could have been avoided if the authorities concerned had had their eyes wide open and ears to the ground, to feel to pulse of the troop.
*Izekor is a journalist and public affairs analyst, and Member, Board of Advisers of The Point.
