3 months ago
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BY ANDREW OROLUA
The Defence Headquarters on Thursday said that the planned nationwide protest is an open invitation to widespread violence and that the military would not fold it’s arms and watch the country be thrown into a state of anarchy.
The Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba who issued the warning during the biweekly press briefing Thursday stated that “the contemporary context of the planned protest is to shadow happenings in Kenya which has so far been violent and unresolved to date.”
“Given the situation, there are already indicators that, unscrupulous elements are bent on hijacking the planned protest for violent purposes.”
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“Pertaining the planned nationwide protest, there are essentially several factors to be thoroughly examined. Some of which are whether or not the planned strike is motivated by opposition politics, independent parties, sovereign interference, terrorist groups or any numbers of organizations that have feed on the frustrations of Nigerians to create the situation.
“However, for us in the military, the constitution is clear as to how and when the military gets involved. The constitution also clearly defines the roles and functions of the armed forces.
“On the other hand, while citizens have a constitutional right to peaceful protest, they do not have a right to mobilise for anarchy in order to unleash terror.
He said that for instance, “there are signs of status related violence such that persons with things as basic as a smart phone and car are targets. This does not leave out those that own a house, shop, or even use air conditioner in their houses. Other targets includes; places of worship, businesses, markets, persons of other ethnic groups and members of opposing political party among others.”
Major General Buba said that the military has established that “based on the foregoing, the level of violence envisaged is best described as a state of anarchy. It is for this reason the armed forces will not watch and allow the nation spiral out of control to such low levels.”
“Basically, the military has been exposed to wars and have witnessed situations of anarchy in countries ravaged by war, particularly during ECOMOG or during peacekeeping operations. It is for this reason that, troops will act dutifully to forestall such ugly occurrences from happening in our nation.
“On the whole, citizens are urged to note that, both the timing and the atmosphere of hardship in the country makes the planned protest different from others in the past. It is therefore incumbent upon us all, to quench the fires of violence rather than ignite them.
“It is time to let, cool heads prevail in order for government to further remedy the situation and make our nation flourish again” he added.
English (US) ·