THE WEAPONISATION OF THE NIGERIAN MILITARY

It is well known that the Nigerian military is more than often used as a weapon against innocent civilians. Those in power feel free to use the military whenever and however they please, and it unfortunately tends to end in the loss of innocent lives. This is as a result of the lack of proper checks and balances in the government, and goes to show not only how corrupt the government is, but how much disregard it has for its citizens.

In Nigeria’s very own constitution, its written that the Nigerian military should only be used to protect the citizens from external attacks, rebellion, or, to aid civil matters, only by order of the President himself. But how often do we see the President giving order that the military may be used to settle civil disputes? The answer is not very often, if not at all. Politicians use army as a police force, to settle petty matters, and even use them as security as escorts. Nigerian military have been over used so much, that they can be seen as much as police officers.

All this has contributed to the disdain of the Nigerian army to the civilians. But not only are the politicians to blame, state and local governments also share the blame. They use the army to dispense crowds at protests, which more than often end in the deaths of numerous innocents, tax collectors, and just to generally terrorize the civilians, most recently seen, the youth. Instead of a symbol of peace and protection, the Nigerian military has been weaponised and transformed into a symbol of fear and destruction. The civilians no longer hold the army in a place of respect as an authority to turn to, but instead have been made to fear them.

If the Nigerian military wants to regain the respect it once had, it has to go through serious reform so that those who they’re supposed to protect, won’t be at fear of losing their life.