Lockdown: Soldiers brutalising Nigerians under the guise of enforcing restriction

TOPE AKINYODE, a human rights lawyer, says the military is exploiting the government restriction order to brutalise Nigerians. He said the military has no right to enforce the movement restrictions imposed by the federal government. 

In a memo, Lamidi Adeosun, Chief of Policy and Plans of the Nigerian Army, had said Tukur Buratai, Chief of Army Staff, had approved the activation of “Op-Second-Eleven”, a special operation to see to the enforcement of the restriction amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Reacting in a statement on Tuesday, Akinyode, who is the national president of the Revolutionary Lawyers’ Forum, said the move has no legal backing.

According to him, not even President Muhammadu Buhari has the right to “unleash them (the military) on peaceful citizens except in exceptional circumstances which does not fall in this instance”

He claimed that Nigerians have been brutalised by soldiers “in the name of enforcing government orders”.

“Our attention is drawn to a circular by the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai commanding Soldiers to embark on an action which he tagged ‘Op-Second Eleven’ and which is organised for the ‘enforcement of government movement restriction order’ over coronavirus,” the statement read.

“Our sincere wish had been that the military would follow the path of reasoning to jettison such a misguided ambition, which clearly has no legal standing within the Nigerian jurisprudence. However, we are disturbed by the updates we are receiving about the brutality, physical assault and attack unleashed on citizens by soldiers in the name of enforcing government orders.

“We assert that even the President of Nigeria has no power whatsoever to call out the armed forces and unleash them on peaceful citizens except in exceptional circumstances which does not fall in this instance.

“It remains trite law that armed forces or the military have no right to dabble into civil activities except perhaps, to exercise their right of franchise during elections and vote in their barracks.

“Against the foregoing, we hereby call on any Nigerian who has been or is being unlawfully harassed by the military in the process of enforcing government directive to immediately reach out to us via our email: revolutionarylawyersforum@gmail.com and we will bring the full weight of the law against such erring military officer,” Tope Akinyode stated in the statement.