Of Uniforms, Impersonation and Confusion

 

It is interesting to note that the Nigerian Army rose to the occasion by applying sanctions to two of their men who assaulted a physically challenged man on the streets of Onitsha recently. The said assault was as violent as they come, typical of what military personnel are known for when they are out to exert violence on anyone. The reason for the beastly behaviour of the two junior officers of the Army was that their victim was wearing a military combat uniform.

 

For those who may not know, it is actually a criminal offence in Nigeria for persons who are not in the military to wear any military uniform or insignia. The reason is simple. It is meant to avoid people passing off as military officials, given the sensitivity of the responsibilities of members of the institution. In our climes and present reality, it becomes even more a challenge, given the reported incidents of people dressed as military officials and carrying out crimes.

 

However, the two soldiers failed the test of common sense when interpreting the situation and taking a decision. I would have thought such wisdom was a given to members of the military, given their training. Unfortunately, this was not the case in the Onitsha incident. Common sense would have warned the violent soldiers that a physically challenged on the streets in military fatigue could not possibly be attempting to pass off as a soldier.

 

Granted but not admitting that the soldiers had good reasons to believe that their victim was in fact impersonating a soldier, the appropriate action expected of the soldiers was to apprehend and hand the suspect over to the police. The military institution and its personnel do not have the power to investigate, prosecute or execute punishments in conduct not involving their personnel.  But that really is beside the main point in this case. There was a clear abuse of the victim’s human rights to human dignity.

 

And that is the point I make to stress here because such abuses are routine engagement patterns by the military, paramilitary and police personnel, in their contacts with hapless civilians. As a matter of fact, one of the reasons this incident became an issue was because someone recorded and posted it on the internet and it involves a person with disability, thus bringing negative consequences on the image of the Nigerian Army. Many Nigerians would admit to having personally witnessed similar or worse incidents of abuse by the security agents, the military and paramilitary service personnel. Even if they have not witnessed, they must have had reports or seen videos or photos of such.

 

The implication of this incident is that our security, military and paramilitary institutions have to invest more in the training andretraining of their personnel on issues of law and human rights. There is a need to train them on what their relationship with the civilian populace ought to be, especially in a democracy. And that includes the fact that their institution must be subject to laws and rules of engagement based on the Constitution which is superior to all other laws, military laws inclusive.

 

While we may blame the two junior officers for being the ones caught in this particular crime, we cannot feign ignorance of the fact that their attitude may reflect the dominant attitude of members of their institution, including their superior officers. Too often members of the military, police and any state agency that wears uniforms carry on with airs of importance that comes only by reason of the uniform they wear. Even non-state agencies who wear uniforms imagine themselves to be superior to their peers. They expect, demand and claim to be entitled to the right of way, against all others in the public, no matter the circumstance. That is why they expect others to get off the road when they are moving.

 

The attitude of superiority of citizens in uniforms extends even to the boys scout members when relating with their peers who do not belong to their group. How that came about is difficult to tell but society needs to do a lot to bring every citizen to understand the fact of equality of human persons.

This attitude of ‘uniformed’ men feeling they are above the law gets displayed in many ways. In fact, these days, many of them do not even bother wearing their uniforms when carrying out their duties, thus causing confusion for members of the public as to whom they are dealing with.

 

I have on a few occasions seen men dressed in black shirt and trousers or jean trousers, sometimes with sandals, armed with rifles, carrying out stop and search on roads in Abuja or directing traffic at street junctions. And they actually expect and demand the members of the public to recognise them as security officials in such circumstance.

 

Pray, how are members of the public to know when these persons are legitimate security personnel on legitimate duties as opposed to criminals trying to take advantage of the people? The police authorities would do well to rein in their personnel in this area. We expect the security, military, paramilitary and other ‘uniformed’ services to take steps to raise the human rights awareness, appreciation and application by their personnel. One also calls on the National Human Rights Commission to step up its engagement with these institutions to ensure that they recognise the importance of human rights and respect them.

 

-By Obo Effanga