The General Officer Commanding the 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Adamu Ibrahim, has declared that Port Harcourt and other parts of Rivers state are not in a state of war.
Ibrahim made the declaration at the 2nd Amphibious Battalion, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt, while addressing soldiers of the joint Task Force [JTF] who are taking part in the “Operation Flush Out 111” currently in the state capital.
“We are not in a state of war. You are not an army of occupation here. There is no war. Don�t give the impression that there is war. You are just trying to make sure that everybody goes about his business unmolested,” Ibrahim told the soldiers.
He continued “Some of you in the process of enforcing the curfew have been overzealous, forcing people to raise their hands; you use Koboko on the civilians,” and kick them.
According to Ibrahim, the way and manner the soldiers treat the civilians whom they [JTF] are to protect is very important because Nigerians have liberty and freedom of movement and the soldiers are just performing their constitutional duties in time of insecurity.
Though there are miscreants in Port Harcourt, Ibrahim said it is not limited to Rivers State as 99 per cent of Rivers indigenes are law abiding and they soldiers should treat them with dignity as members of a disciplined force working among their people.
Ibrahim admonished soldiers to avoid negative attitudes and actions such as molesting people and using horsewhips on them as the public are unhappy over such treatments when soldiers become unnecessarily difficult.
He lamented that the attitude of the soldiers to duty is bad as they do not adhere to army standing rules, drink and womanize while on duty while others go without belt, headgear or boot when on duty and they paint a difficult picture of the Nigerian Army.
The army officer told the soldiers that they owe the force a duty to behave well especially when they are on duty as the army would be very hard on any soldier accused of gross indiscipline and treating civilians with indignity.
Ibrahim stated that it is unavoidable that soldiers have to be on the streets but this does not mean they should lost their sense of judgment because they are on the streets of Port Harcourt to maintain peace so that the city can return to its glorious past.
He appealed to the soldiers to realize that they owe Nigerians a duty to protect them and they should do this in a civilized manner so that the civilians can cooperate with JTF to flush out the bad ones in the society.