The Nigerian Military's Infiltration And Control By The Fulani Terrorists

 The Nigerian Military's Infiltration And Control By The Fulani Terrorists  A few days ago, the Nigerian military leadership warned sold...

 The Nigerian Military's Infiltration And Control By The Fulani Terrorists 

A few days ago, the Nigerian military leadership warned soldiers not to go on operations with phones and recording devices. A warning that came in the wake of the indiscriminate shootings and burning down of houses by the Nigerian soldiers in a small community located somewhere in Enugu State, which surfaced on the social media on the Monday 1st of November, 2021.

By every indication, the video was recorded by one of the soldiers, either as a revolt against what was being done by fellow soldiers or simply, out of sheer impudence to commit such heinous crimes and still go scot-free. But whatever be the case, the crucial factor here is that the beastly crime those soldiers committed on that day, is out there for all to see. And it is only one of many such atrocities.

The point has to be made about this incident so that we do not easily forget the horror that played out that day and also to give ourselves more time to digest the facts about the vampiric mortals adorning the uniforms of the Nigerian military. As it is not out of place to think that in this 21st century, the Nigerian military ought to have evolved into a modern, refined and humane institution primed to join the league of exemplary militaries across the world in the true service of humanity. But we could not have been more wrong and presumptuous of a military stubbornly stuck up in ancient times, that continues to show itself only as a barbaric force set out to maim and kill the very people it is supposed to protect. This institution has deteriorated into a worse condition than it was, prior to the government of Muhammadu Buhari.

The image of that day says it all. It speaks to the peculiar character of a military drunk with hate, coupled with an uninhibited power and authority to showcase its object of hate as it so chooses. In many ways, the characters looked far more deadlier than the weapons in their hands. A murderous set of soldiers, lethal and unforgiving by any description, firing away indiscriminately at any living thing and with relative ease and enjoyment. And in plain sight, was what seemed an infinite rage of anti-Igbo coloration, as if they were on a mission to fulfill an age-old prophetic mandate of apocalyptic retaliation. 

Be that as it may, this could not have been glossed over or swept under the rug anywhere else but in Nigeria. And going by the entrenched culture of impunity among the Nigerian politicians and members of the armed forces, none of these murderous soldiers or their commanders is likely to be held accountable or at least, queried by the Nigerian authorities. Which tells a very macabre yet, the true story of Nigeria; a country steeped in political and economic cannibalism.

And so, with such an ugly picture of indiscriminate shootings into people’s homes which is often replicated by the Nigerian military, it makes a lot of sense when "zoo" is metaphorically used to describe Nigeria. But not to put too fine a point on it, the metaphor is a bit too polished to fit a human abattoir like Nigeria, given that in a zoo, for example, animals have value and rights. Any attempt at jungle justice, attracts serious punishments.  

But in the Nigerian context, there is hardly any sense of human value among Nigerian leaders and the armed forces. It is a well known historic fact that Nigerian armed forces are undisciplined, brutal, brutally corrupt, polarized, barbaric and boundless in the commission of genocides and various other atrocious crimes against humanity. Similarly, the government of Nigeria is in lockstep with them, sanctioning all the killings of unarmed civilians and then turn around to frame such events in a way that absolves them of any wrongdoings. At present, both the military and the government are indoors plotting more military operations that will soon sweep through a broad swath of Igboland.

But then again, the necessary question to ask the Nigerian government and the military generals is, what more operations are you expecting your soldiers to carry out? Let me guess: they are to embark on operations in small towns, villages, marketplaces or inside family homes in Igboland where harmless children and old people are likely to be found playing or going about their businesses. Or better still, carry out operations in the churches and synagogues where Igbo worshipers are mindlessly making spiritual and metaphysical connections, absolutely bothering no one. 

Maybe operations on the streets where your soldiers arbitrarily arrest or kill unarmed young Igbomen and women and tag them the UNKNOWN GUNMEN. Of note, these are the operations we have seen you carry out lately in Igboland, where your soldiers deliberately set peaceful communities on fire and turn around to act as the firefighters on a mission, then when the smoke clears up, the entire place is strewn with the blood of innocent Igbo people.

But I must remind you, the members of the Nigerian military, that the people are onto your hideous schemes; your tactics of intimidation; your recruitment of Boko Haram terrorists purposely to deploy them down to Igboland with the order to sweep across the region with mayhem and deaths and then leave it a wreck. In due time, I believe, every one of the Nigerian Military Generals behind these unwarranted and routine attacks on voiceless and defenseless people, will be hoisted by his or her own wickedness.

Imagine what would have happened if the military had deployed to the Northern part of Nigeria, which is being ravaged by terrorism and banditry, this much military personnel in addition to the military hardwares that converged on the serene South-East. By any estimation, terrorism would have been degraded well enough to send the terrorists on their heels and the cities and the towns to which they lay siege would have been recovered and integrated back into Nigeria. 

But we do not expect anything different from the valley of volcanic eruptions Nigeria now represents, since the ground patron of Boko Haram and other Fulani terror groups, is the current president of Nigeria, who has continued to supply the groups with arms and military logistics. And for six years now, his keen ambition remains to destabilize the South-East region, turning it into a war zone.

However, Igboland will be fiercely defended against Fulani terrorists and more so, against the Nigerian military presently under the domineering control of the same Fulanis. The Nigerian military is the number one enemy of the Igbos. The facts speak for themselves. There is a universal belief that people run to the military for protection in times of danger. But in Nigeria, the military is ironically the danger, the dread of the people, the boogeyman whose iron-fist is tightly pressing against the jugular of the people.

On the whole, the true diagnosis of Nigeria begins and ends with its armed forces. In all historical times, there was never a society that prospered on ideals or witnessed any seismic social progress under a widespread culture of military oppressions, harassments, intimidation, brutalities and extra-judicial killings. A frequent occurrence that has scarred the psyche of an average civilian in Nigeria such that a mere sight of any uniform individual disconcert and unsettle them completely. So, the two events – progress and violence, are diametrically opposed to one another. 

Therefore, to run a society on democratic principles and ideals, violence against humanity, as we have witnessed in all the dealings of the Nigerian military, must be roundly wrestled down and nailed deep into the earth so that it can no longer rear its ugly head ever again. But that cannot be achieved in a deeply divided society as Nigeria, with a government corrupt beyond description and armed forces infiltrated and controlled by terrorists sympathizers. By and large, violence and extra-judicial killings by the Nigerian military cannot go away as long as the Nigerian state continues to exist.

Written by Chima Ono

Edited by Chibueze Daniel

For Family Writers Press International.