Metro
Army’s Irresponsible Killings and Police Undeserved Sympathy
By Eric Elezuo
The deaths of Inspector Eddie Edidale, Sergeants Usman Danzumi and Dahiru Musa in Taraba State while on official assignment by alleged trigger-happy soldiers of the 93 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, in Takum, Taraba State, took many by surprise.
The reasons for the surprise lies in the fact that the army, surprisingly unlike the counterparts in the Police Force, are not known to be trigger happy as they boast of adequate and excellent training. Again, it is said that the soldiers are so disciplined in the use of arms, shoot only when they have express command from a superior. So why did these particular soldiers snuff the life out of three promising cops even when it was said they revealed their identity.
In the army’s press statement, the it has claimed that the policemen were mistaken for kidnappers, and so fire was opened on them. But the Police have faulted the claim, saying the slain cops were well identified before being executed at close range.
The deaths have pitched public sympathy for the police against the army in a sudden turn of events. The army, hitherto, has been well respected following their no nonsense stand and risk in the territorial defence of the nation. More so as many of them are being slaughtered almost on a daily basis at various insurgency wars across the length and breadth of the country in recent times.
The army don’t just shoot and kill; the police are believed to posses such unenviable status. And of course, a lot of instance abound where the police have snuffed life out of Innocent citizens, sometimes for little or no provocation.
The situation now has therefore become suspicious. The reason is not farfetched: if the soldier has to kill in this manner, he definitely did so via instruction, and soldiers don’t joke with superior instructions. This has raised the question: who ordered the massacre of the there policemen. Who is interested in the release a notorious kidnapper, Alhaji Amisu Bala Wadume, who was successfully apprehended by the police.
As to be expected, considering the no love lost relationship of the police and army over time, the force headquarters has faulted the defence headquarters claims of mistaken identity. They have therefore posited certain queries for the army among which is the whereabouts of the kidnapper-victim whom they claimed to have rescued and the identity of the so called whistle blower who alerted them.
It is obvious that the army cannot give answers to these queries as there are in the real sense no answers to them.
Maybe for the first time, Nigerians seem to be on the side of the police, and bluntly ask the army to speak the truth in this matter, no matter whose ox is gored. It is a good thing however, that President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a detailed investigation into the matter. But then, most Nigerians have lost fate in the enquires of the Buhari administration, claiming that nothing will come out of it, and the case will be swept under the carpet like many others in the past.
Howbeit, the Police is not the only the casualty here, the entire nation, even the person or persons at whose behest the gallant officers were slaughtered and Wadume escaped. This is because a criminal will always remain a criminal. Who knows who he will come after tomorrow.
The trio of Edaile, Danzumi and Musa were reported as among the stars of the force, whose discipline, proficiency and hardwork were worthy of emulation.
They had distinguished themselves in various field assignments including the arrest of notorious kidnapper Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans, in 2017, rescue of Musa Umar Uba, an in-law of President Muhammadu Buhari, who was in captivity for two months and the arrest of Umar Abdulmalik, a Boko Haram commander, as well as 22 Boko Haram terrorists responsible for the 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno.
While everyone mourns the irresponsible killing of the officers, a clarion call is made to the army to redeem its honour and unmask the bad eggs in its ranks, produce the captured or released kidnapper. That will go a long way to assuage the anger of the Nigerian populace.
The Senate has brought forward the screening of newly appointed Service Chiefs to Wednesday, October 29, reversing its earlier decision to conduct the exercise next week.
The announcement came shortly after Senate President, Godwill Akpabio, read a separate correspondence from President Bola Tinubu, seeking the confirmation of appointment of Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede.
Akpabio said the change was necessary to enable the military chiefs to assume their duties immediately.
President Bola Tinubu had urged the Senate to give expeditious consideration to the confirmation process to ensure continuity and effective coordination of the nation’s security architecture.
Following the new schedule, the Committee of the Whole is expected to conduct the screening exercise during plenary on Wednesday.
A few days ago, Tinubu reshuffled the military hierarchy. Tinubu removed General Christopher Musa, with Oluyede (a former Chief of Army Staff) replacing him as the Chief of Defence Staff.
He, however, retained Major-General E.A.P. Undiendeye as the Chief of Defence Intelligence.
The rejigging, according to presidential aide Sunday Dare, was due to “the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria to strengthen the national security architecture”.
“All appointments take immediate effect,” he wrote.
But critics have faulted the rejig of the military hierarchy, with the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC “as an opposition political party, our interest remains the stability of our country and our democracy. In the light of developments in our neighbourhood of Chad and the Sahel States, we are gravely concerned”) asking President Tinubu to come out clean on the reason for the move.
“Our position remains, therefore, that the Federal Government owes Nigerians a categorical explanation about what truly happened,” the ADC wrote in a statement by its spokesman, Bolaji Abdullahi.
Senator Ned Nwoko on Sunday said he feels sorry for men with one wife, insisting that polygamy provides men greater stability and balance.
The lawmaker representing Delta North, who made the comment while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today, also addressed recent allegations of domestic violence against him by his actress wife, Regina Daniels.
When asked how he copes with managing four wives—something many men find nearly impossible- Nwoko hesitated for a while before reacting.
“That is a different topic for discussion on another day. Yes, every man should do that. The example I give is this: just imagine telling you to stand on one foot or leg. You know how difficult it is.
“But to stand on two, three, four is much more balanced. That’s just the example I give. So I feel sorry for those who have one wife because it’s difficult to stand on one leg,” he stated.
When reminded that the Holy Bible does not endorse polygamy, Nwoko countered, “The Old Testament does. I am a man of faith. But that’s not what we are here for.”
Asked whether he had any regrets about his marital choices, the senator shook his head.
“No, I don’t have any regret. I will do the same thing again. Of course, that’s the way it should be. You should marry who you want to marry,” he defended stoutly.
On the domestic violence allegations trailing him, Nwoko dismissed them outright, saying, “No, come on. You know I am not a violent person. I respect my wives. I love them and my kids.”
His comments came just hours after Nollywood actress Regina Daniels, his estranged wife, flaunted a newly acquired mansion on social media amid reports of a marital crisis.
In a post on her Instagram page, Daniels shared photos and videos of the property with the caption, “In my house, I am a Queen! I needed a roof over my head, so I got this for me and my family.”
The post followed a viral video from October 18 showing the actress in tears outside her Abuja residence, lamenting alleged abuse.
“In Ned Nwoko’s house, I am nothing, but in my own house, I am a Queen. Not again. I can’t stand the violence, it’s too much,” she said in the footage.
The couple’s six-year marriage, once the subject of public fascination due to their wide age gap, has recently degenerated into a full-blown crisis now playing out before millions of Nigerians on social media.
The Punch
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), in the early hours of Sunday, October 26, raided Proxy Night club at 7, Akin Adesola Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, where a drug party was going on, and arrested over 100 suspects.
Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, while making this known, said the suspects arrested include the owner of the club, Mike Eze Nwalie Nwogu, alias Pretty Mike, who was taken into custody for interrogation.
“Cartons of illicit substances, including Loud and laughing gas, were recovered from suspects at the party and the club’s store.
“The raid followed intelligence about the drug party. NDLEA operatives who were embedded in the party between 11 pm on Saturday, 25th October, however, disrupted the gathering at 3 am on Sunday, 26th October, in line with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
