Danjuma vs Army: The war of words rages

The report of the committee that was set up by the Nigeria Army to investigate allegation by former Chief of Army Staff, General T. Y Danjuma (retd) that it was colluding with armed bandits in Taraba state, may have exonerated the Army. However, rather than rest the matter, the war of words still rages. ELEOJO IDACHABA reports

The allegation was very weighty. The call to arms was scary. More so, the person who, made them belonged to the high and mighty. So, the authorities couldn’t dismiss or sweep the issues under the carpet.

On March 25, 2018, former Chief of Army Staff, General Theophilus Danjuma (retd), had accused the armed forces of colluding with armed bandits to kill innocent citizens. Consequently, he asked Nigerians to defend themselves as ‘’the armed forces are not neutral.’’

In addition, the retired general warned that more violence will erupt should the killings in his home state, Taraba, and other communities continued. According to him, “the ethnic cleansing must stop in Taraba state. It must stop in all the states of Nigeria, otherwise Somalia will be a child’s play. I ask every one of you to be at alert and defend your country, defend your territory, defend your state. You have nowhere else to go.’’

Dan Ali’s defence

Expectedly, Danjuma’s comments reverberated across the country as serving and former military officers defended their comrades-at-arms. The Minister of Defence, Brigadier General Mansur Dan Ali (retd), mildly rebuked Danjuma stating: “a recent comment by one of the nation’s elder statesman alleging that the Nigeria military colludes with bandits to kill people and therefore calling on them to rise and defend themselves, outside constitutional provision, is highly uncalled for and is an invitation to anarchy and should be disregarded by well-meaning Nigerians.”

Dan Ali further said that, “the effort of the Nigeria Armed Forces towards the restoration of peace, security and order in Nigeria has continued to receive appreciation in changing the security environment from what it was before. The armed forces is well organised and highly professional in discharging it’s constitutional responsibilities.”

Army spokesman reacts
In the same vein, Army spokesman, Brigadier General, Texas Chukwu, criticized the former Chief of Army Staff. According to him, it was unfortunate that such a statement would come from a highly distinguished statesman, especially now that the military has embarked on demilitarisation of the North-central region of the country.

Chukwu argued that, “while the Nigeria Army would not join words with the elder statesman, it is however necessary that certain facts be clearly stated in the interest of the Nigeria public. The Nigeria Army is constitutionally charged with the responsibility of defending the territorial integrity of Nigeria and to aid the civil authority whenever called upon.”

He said Taraba state government failed to cooperate with the military on its stand towards neutrality at the beginning of the exercise.

Army investigative committee

Significantly, the army went beyond explanation, on April 9, 2018, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Tukur Buratai, inaugurated a 10-man committee to probe Danjuma’s allegation.

Inaugurating the committee, he said Danjuma’s comment, could make Nigerians lose confidence in the army and for this reason, the allegation needs to be investigated to determine its veracity.

Buratai maintained that such allegations can’t be ignored, if the Nigerian Army is to continue to earn the trust of the populace. He recalled that the deployment of soldiers in recent military operations, particularly in Taraba state, has been criticised by individuals and interest groups from different sectors of the society.

The army, Buratai, pointed out, is well spread across the country and deployed in virtually all the states for one internal security operation or the other. “So, here lies the need for the army to get it very clear and to get its name out of this unnecessary allegation,’’ he further said.

According to him, the army will be “ready to take responsibility if found to have colluded with criminal elements as alleged.’’ Burati tasked the committee to do a thorough job and charged them to visit all flash points and interact with stakeholders and interest groups, to come up with a comprehensive report.

Terms of reference

The committee, which was given 10 days submit its report, was mandated to ascertain the veracity of Danjuma’s statement that the troops were not neutral, but collude with, cover and facilitate the movement of armed bandits and other criminals.

In addition, the committee was tasked with ascertaining the level of understanding among troops operating in the identified states of the rules of engagement and appropriate conduct during the operations.

Similarly, the committee members were mandated to ascertain the timeline of clashes / security breaches that occurred in Taraba state from year 2015 till date. The committee was also tasked with documenting military responses to the identified clashes from year 2015, during Operation Mesa, Ayem Akpatuma, and other operations and exercises in the state.

At the same time, the committee was asked to “ascertain if documentary operational records/dairies on each operational/ exercise were kept, including the availability of After Action Review to tactical and operational levels specifically at the Battalion, Brigade, sector and Division.’’

Lastly, they were also asked find out the role and actions taken by commanders involved in the exercise, interview, document and verify claims made by local groups, NGOs and other Nigerians.

The committee, which was led by Major General Joseph Nimyel (retd), had other members to include: Brigadier General Saka Abubakar (retd); Brigadier General Sani Mohammed; Brigadier General Kayode Olajide; Brigadier General Alexander Ridley; and Brigadier General Stanley Eze.
Other members include: Abdul Atadoga Ibrahim from the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA); Mrs Comfort Davut from the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs); Barrister Abdulrahman Yakubu from the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) as well as Col Gambo Mohammed.

Danjuma cried wolf

On April 25, the committee submitted its report and the army made its findings public at a press conference, where the Chief of Army Staff said that Danjuma’s allegations were untrue. Buratai, who was represented by Chief of Military/Civil Affairs, General Nuhu Angbazo, exonerated the army of collusion. He said that the panel found that Taraba governor made several attempts to remove the Commanding Officer of 9 Battalion, I.B. Gambari, a Lt. Col., for “his refusal to be dragged into the state politics.’’

According to him, the Chairman of Takum Local Government Area had attempted to undermine the authority of the commanding officer but did not give details.

He further stated that most of the crises over the years in Taraba were particularly in Takum, Wukari, Ussa, Donga and Sardauna Local Government Areas, pointing out that, “there was absence of Nigerian army deployments in some crisis-prone areas in the hinterland in Taraba state.’’ The army chief blamed the crisis partly on the porous Nigeria-Cameroon borders and arms proliferation in the state.

The committee, he said noted “a massive proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Taraba, some of which have been recovered from warring parties, criminals and unauthorised persons.”

In addition, the committee blamed the unending clashes in the state on its “highly heterogeneous and division along ethno-religious lines.’’ According to Angbaso, the present clashes in the state are as a result of clan and communal crisis that predate the present government and that most of them are politically motivated.

The army chief commended both the officers and troops for their conduct during the operation, as well as the committee for doing a good job

Call for independent inquiry

Significantly, a civil rights group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) faulted the committee’s report, which granted a clean bill of health to the army.

The rights group argued that the committee was largely made up of the same military officers and their cronies masquerading as civil society stakeholders.

Specifically, HURIWA described the report as ‘dubiously self-serving; subjective; whishy-washy and pre-determined,’ pointing out that the Army shot itself on the leg when the Defence spokesman initially dismissed General Danjuma’s allegations.

HURIWA had argued that, ‘‘the setting up of the panel was basically a product of an afterthought, which came about by the huge body of constructive criticisms of the military in the aftermath of the allegations of collusion with armed terrorists.’’

The group said it was unfortunate and disappointing that the army could waste money and resources to procure the same pre-determined conclusions that had already been made public by the Defence Headquarters.

According to HURIWA,‘‘the Investigative panel was not independent and the members simply executed a choreographed plot aimed at providing a pre-determined clean bill of health that could patch up any bad publicity and damage to the corporate image of the military.

The rights group asked the federal government, instead, to institute an independent body of investigators to conduct evidence-based findings in compliance with best global practices.

The group suggested that identification, collection and documentation of available evidence with the strictest confidentiality and the security of the persons giving evidence should be guaranteed.

Furthermore, membership of such an independent investigative team, HURIWA said must be headed by a respected statesman not below the rank of a serving Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. In addition, representatives of the security forces, credible civil society platforms and experts in forensic investigations must be part of such an Inquiry, HURIWA insisted.

Middle belt group hails report

On the other hand, the Middle Belt Conscience Guard (MBCG) commended the report, stating that the findings of the committee are in tandem with widely held positions. Addressing journalists, recently in Abuja, MBCG National Coordinator, Prince Raymond Enero, also asked General Danjuma to retract his statement and apologise to the federal government, the army and Nigerians in general.

According to him, the attempt to taint the army’s reputation stemmed from Lt Gambari’s refusal to be dragged into the complex political and ethnic mix in the state.

Enero further advised stakeholders in Taraba state to desist from making inflammatory statements which can undermine, jeopardise or scuttle the efforts at peace and security to bring the communal clashes to an end.

In addition, the Middle Belt group commended the probe committee, pointing out that it was manned by credible serving and retired army officers; representatives of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and scores of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).

Taraba govt rejects report

Pointedly, the Taraba state government has rejected the report of the committee. Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr Bala Dan Abu, told Blueprint Weekend that the report falls short of the people’s expectation and only an independent judicial commission of inquiry will address the matter to the satisfaction of the people.

According to him, the report, “is a shoddy job that was intended to deceive the public and to give an undeserved verdict to the army.

“Remember that the army, in this case is the accused and also the one that set up the panel, hand-picked the members, designed the terms of reference, received, studied and released the report.

“In this circumstance, do you expect them to pronounce themselves guilty? They are just trying to blindfold Nigerians and no right-thinking person would believe what they have done.”

Speaking further, he said, “what they have done is a caricature of justice, which we reject totally. If they want to be taken seriously, the right thing to do is to set up a proper judicial commission of inquiry that is independent and capable of investigation impartially.

“There were several incidents when Governor Ishaku reported the killings to the President, Minister of Defence, COAS and DSS asking for their intervention. The vice president merely acknowledged one of those letters and that was the end.

“One of those letters reported that Commanding Officer in Takum, who was widely accused of colluding with the herdsmen against the locals, surprisingly, he is one of those the report exonerated.”

The governor’s aide further stated that, “There were two occasions when helicopters mysteriously landed in Gembu, a place near Wukari to drop firearms. We raised the alarm when we got the information, yet nothing was done.

“There was also a time Fulani people came out on a killing spree and in the process abandoned their cows and ran away. The state government mobilised support, confiscated the cows and kept them in the barrack under the custody of the CO with the belief that the owners would come for them later after which they would be arrested.

“Curiously, those cows disappeared and nobody was arrested. That angle is not reflected in the so-called report. This is why we have rejected it totally.”

As the arguments for and against the committee findings continues, it is unclear what becomes of the report and recommendation made, however, it is apparent remains that the last has not been heard on the matter as well as the fact that the committee report has not put the matter to rest.

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