{"id":8612,"date":"2013-08-19T04:40:09","date_gmt":"2013-08-19T04:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/rising-crime-in-military-barracks\/"},"modified":"2013-08-19T04:40:09","modified_gmt":"2013-08-19T04:40:09","slug":"rising-crime-in-military-barracks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/rising-crime-in-military-barracks\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising crime in military barracks"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant-General Azubuike Ihejirika, represented by the Commandant, Nigerian Army Signal School, Major- General Donald Oji, at the recent annual seminar and retreat held by the Roman Catholic Chaplaincy of the Nigerian Army in Lagos, lamented what he termed the rising crime wave and other social vices in military barracks; and pleaded with army chaplains to assist in cleansing the system. \u201cWe all know how much a herculean task this has become in recent times because of the incessant intrusion of threats of corruption, nepotism, negative tribalism and ethnic tendencies and what is worse, the new wave of terrorism. As we battle these from without, we cannot overlook the fact that there are still traces of gross misconduct, rape, drunkenness and social dichotomy and other related crimes from within\u201d, the army chief said.<\/p>\n

This goes to confirm the long-held public suspicion that some military barracks have become heavens for all manner of hoodlums. A Lagosbased evening newspaper, about June 2002, reported, for example, that armed robbers had turned the Ojo Military Cantonment to their base. The bandits, the newspaper reported, normally took refuge inside the barracks after their operations. Residents in the area interviewed confirmed that most of the robbers operating in the area usually ran into the barracks for respite when being hunted. They often scaled the high fence to enter the barracks. The popular imagination is that police are helpless in this case because they have no authority to enter military barracks; the result is that the hoodlums always escape arrest.<\/p>\n

A report by one of the social media outfits, Nigerian Best Forum (NBF), dated April 29, 2008, likewise quoted the chaplain of the Catholic Church, Amphibious Brigade, Calabar, identified simply as Lance Corporal Imoke, as saying that the army base had become a breeding ground for robbers and prostitutes. He said soldiers rent accommodation meant for them and members of their families in the barracks to civilians,and that officers who habour their mistresses and other questionable characters in the barracks had turned the abode into a den for hoodlums who used their accommodation as operational base to perpetrate crimes.<\/p>\n

Blaming the situation on army officers who give out quarters to people they know little about, Imoke said: \u201cFor as little as N10,000, an officer is ready to stand as surety for a civilian he does not know from Adam, and these are the people who go out to rob… If you take the statistics of those living in Ebrutu Barracks, you will find that over 60 percent are civilians. These are \u2018okada\u2019 riders, touts, jobless people and those who have no business in the barracks…\u201d<\/p>\n

It will be no surprise if the situation is the same in all the military barracks in the country. Indeed, it is now clearer the reason for the panicstricken directive by the military high command last November on the mass eviction of civilians from military barracks across the country, following the terrorist attack on St. Andrew Military Protestant Church inside the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, in Jaji, near Kaduna.<\/p>\n

Just as the COAS was complaining about the malfeasance, commercial drivers plying the Enugu-Onitsha highway also sent a Save Our Soul (SOS) message to him on the alleged cruelty of extortionist soldiers operating on the said express road. According to the drivers, the soldiers were in the habit of keeping big \u2018Ghana Must Go\u2019 bags in nearby bushes close to their check points, where they hide monies extorted at gun-point from hapless motorists.<\/p>\n

The military is traditionally a disciplined force. It should therefore, serve as an epitome of best conduct, security consciousness and eternal vigilance; and not as sanctuary for common criminals. But with the cited instances there are very strong indications that military personnel are themselves compromising the nation\u2019s security through their reckless conduct in and outside the barracks. There are equally allegations that some unscrupulous officers grant their children access to their official uniforms and service rifles without caring to monitor the uses they are converted to. The nation cannot afford to allow its military institutions sink to this odious level. By now, Ihejirika must have had enough tips on how his men are desecrating military barracks. The military authorities should take serious measures to stem the ugly tide by punishing officers found to be so greedy to the point of renting out their official apartments, and giving the right reorientation to all military officers and men. As worrisome as the development now is, the military hierarchy can still save the situation if it acts decisively and fast.<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: National Mirror Newspaper<\/p>\n

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