Army’s Prickly Operation Positive Identification
The Director of Operations and Training of the Nigerian Army, Major General E.O. Udoh initiated the controversy. He stated at a press conference on September 25 in Abuja that the military was extending Operation Positive Identification, first launched in the North-east, to the rest of the country. The General said this would help checkmate terrorists, bandits, kidnappers, armed robbers, ethnic militia, cattle rustlers and other crimes across Nigeria.
When a post on social media on Tuesday, supposedly by the Army, announced that the prickly operation would commence on November 1, the military quickly dissociated itself from it, saying it was “fake news”. They informed Nigerians that the security advisory should be disregarded. But the military authorities still did not deny the statement of General Udoh. The social media material termed “fake news” appropriately captured the plan revealed by General Udoh. The Army did not also say that the plan had been abandoned. Army Chief, Tukur Buratai affirmed the prickly operation on Thursday when he told the House of Representatives that he would go ahead with it.
It is now clear that Operation Positive Identification would be extended to the rest of Nigeria and the planned operation would see soldiers accosting citizens on the streets or highways and asking them to produce means of identification on the spot. The opposition to the plan did not affect the takeoff date. Nigerians are being warned in advance to carry a valid means of identification like national identity card, voter’s card, driver’s license and international passport, whenever they are going out, to avoid being seen as criminally-minded by the soldiers. A statement signed by Army spokesperson Sagir Musa back in September, urged citizens not to panic on seeing an increased presence of military personnel on the streets.
The speculations about the authenticity of the grumpy operation have been laid to rest. I had to call for the transcript of General Udoh’s press briefing/that of Buratai on Thursday and spent quality time reading them. Honestly, the Army under the leadership of Buratai has missed it on this planned nonsensical attack on the dignity of Nigerians. There is nothing wrong with the Army aiming to secure the country and protecting lives and properties of Nigerians. But there is a lot wrong with accosting people and asking them to produce identity cards. We are not in a police state. People without verifiable identity cards have not committed any offence. Besides, there is no law that says citizens must move around with identity cards.
The statement by the military that it had been taking similar measures to separate citizens from terrorists in the Boko Haramravaged northeastern part is garbage. The military claimed that people in the North-east had been cooperating with troops to make the exercise successful by carrying with them valid identity documents. So, what has the Army achieved in the North-east with this? Virtually nothing. Boko Haram and ISWAP are still rampaging, with civilians and soldiers killed daily. Military bases have been commandeered by the terrorists while millions of people are holed up in IDP camps because their villages and towns are still occupied by the terrorists.
Is Buratai saying he is unaware that it is unlawful to ask citizens to carry ID cards? It is illegal to harass people without identity cards. So many Nigerians don’t even have identity cards for a number of reasons. The National Identity Card project is a failure. Many have lost their jobs; so, they don’t have work identity cards. How many people have travelling passports? How many Nigerians have driver’s license? Buratai and his other security chiefs must adopt contemporary policing technique rather than coming up with unpolished and tyrannical tactics aimed at humiliating Nigerians. Law enforcement agents should go after doubtful people, based on intelligence. The military must not subject the entire country to unjustifiable harassment. This idea of trying to intimidate, victimise and extort Nigerians must be shelved.
The Army Chief, if he still has warcapable hands, should move them towards the North-east to effectively combat Boko Haram, instead of looking for Nigerians without identity cards. This exercise is not within the purview of Buratai and his men. For me, our security chiefs clearly lack ideas about how to fight insecurity in our dear country.
It is good that the House of Representatives has spoken out against the planned “operation show your identity cards.” I fully concur with the House Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu, who raised a point of order of national importance at the resumption of plenary last Tuesday, urging the House to stop the planned operation, because “it would strip Nigerians of their constitutionally guaranteed freedom of movement.”
Elumelu added: “If allowed, it would downgrade innocent Nigerians to suspects, while it would also instill fear, anxiety and panic in the entire polity. The nationwide operation would also amount to an indirect imposition of a state of emergency across the country by the Army. Such proposed military operations that involve direct contact and regulating of civilians could result in abuses and serious safety issues, especially at this time the nation is battling with the scourge of victimisation and extra-judicial killings.”
The position of rights activist, Femi Falana on the loathsome operation is instructive. He described it as a subtle ploy to foist the obnoxious apartheid policy of the then white minority regime in South Africa on Nigerians: “It is a sad reminder of the illegal practice of the white minority rulers, which compelled Africans to carry pass books outside their homelands or designated areas under the apartheid regime in South Africa. Similar operations such as Operation Python Dance, Operation Scorpion and others conducted by the Army in civilian areas had recently led to reckless arrests, detention and extrajudicial killings of innocent citizens. Since majority of Nigerians do not have any of the Army’s approved means of identification, they would be subjected to unwarranted intimidation and physical attacks by armed soldiers, who would pretend that they were looking for criminal elements.”
Forces of good must put pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that this satanic military operation does not see the light of the day. We are not a subjugated people. Buratai and his men must perish this idea.