I may not know a lot about the rules of engagement of combat, but I am certain that one of the fundamental duties of soldiers is to defend their host nation. Ordinarily, soldiers should only be seen on battlefields and barracks, however in Nigeria, the security situation has compelled us to see more Khakis than Police uniforms. The frequent crises in some States of the Federation has necessitated the deployment of armed security personnel known as the Joint Task Force (JTF), comprising members of the Nigerian Army, Navy, the Air force and Mobile Policemen who seek to maintain (or impose) Peace.

It wouldn’t be out of place to aver that Nigerian soldiers (JTF) are deployed to the streets to prevent further escalation of violence and terrorists acts that have bedeviled the nation. In my opinion however, If we refer to these soldiers as ‘Peace Keepers’, we’d be awfully wrong, since peace is an abstract concept that must not be coerced or gained through the use of guns or weapons. Rather, it is a product of mutual respect, tolerance and meaningful dialogue.

The situation in Jos is so pathetic that anytime peace and normalcy begins to return – then boom! A soldier kills another unarmed civilian, and so the vicious cycle of violence continues. On so many occasions, politicians and traditional leaders alike have called for the removal of soldiers. Their reasons are obvious: They renegade from their duties of inspecting and checking vehicles for arms and instead continue to receive N20 bribes; they rape civilians, impregnate and molest young girls in the community; bully and harass citizens; subtly protect terrorists commonly known to us as “unknown gunmen” who mysteriously vanish after every attack and are never identified or captured; and most devastatingly, they kill unarmed civilians over simple arguments or civil disobedience, sometimes just to prove their tacit point that ‘one with a gun is majority’. It is in this regard that some people choose to address them as ‘Peace killers’.

I may not know a lot about the rules of engagement of combat, but I am certain that one of the fundamental duties of soldiers is to defend their host nation. Ordinarily, soldiers should only be seen on battlefields and barracks, however in Nigeria, the security situation has compelled us to see more Khakis than Police uniforms. The frequent crises in some States of the Federation has necessitated the deployment of armed security personnel known as the Joint Task Force (JTF), comprising members of the Nigerian Army, Navy, the Air force and Mobile Policemen who seek to maintain (or impose) Peace.

It wouldn’t be out of place to aver that Nigerian soldiers (JTF) are deployed to the streets to prevent further escalation of violence and terrorists acts that have bedeviled the nation. In my opinion however, If we refer to these soldiers as ‘Peace Keepers’, we’d be awfully wrong, since peace is an abstract concept that must not be coerced or gained through the use of guns or weapons. Rather, it is a product of mutual respect, tolerance and meaningful dialogue.

The situation in Jos is so pathetic that anytime peace and normalcy begins to return – then boom! A soldier kills another unarmed civilian, and so the vicious cycle of violence continues. On so many occasions, politicians and traditional leaders alike have called for the removal of soldiers. Their reasons are obvious: They renegade from their duties of inspecting and checking vehicles for arms and instead continue to receive N20 bribes; they rape civilians, impregnate and molest young girls in the community; bully and harass citizens; subtly protect terrorists commonly known to us as “unknown gunmen” who mysteriously vanish after every attack and are never identified or captured; and most devastatingly, they kill unarmed civilians over simple arguments or civil disobedience, sometimes just to prove their tacit point that ‘one with a gun is majority’. It is in this regard that some people choose to address them as ‘Peace killers’.

For instance, in the morning of Monday 4th February, Inspector Dul Nimpkar, while on duty in Mikang LGA of Plateau State, was shot dead by a trigger happy soldier, Corporal Shuaibu and therefore constraining Mrs. Nimpkar and her children to orphan-hood. The life of Inspector Dul was snapped out because he insisted that a J5 van be checked in line with law, but corporal Shuaibu, wanted the opposite. The argument heated on until the soldier dropped his “end-of –discussion” bullet on the poor inspector whom at that moment was unarmed. Now gone with vague history, is the driver of the J5 van, the van itself and the unknown contents being ferried. The fate of the killer soldier remains a mystery, but from similar antecedents, we can infer that the culprit is perhaps walking free somewhere in the country.

To further illustrate my point, on 17th February 2013, another taxi driver was shot along Yakubu Gowon way simply because he did not obey traffic rules. The bullet penetrated his shoulder and found its final destination in the body of an innocent passenger. The passenger, Wagley Duada eventually passed-on but the targeted driver survived. The crime of the driver, in a nutshell, was that he drove erratically – a crime over 80% of Nigerians are guilty of, and the punishment was a bullet that intended to kill him. Please don’t even think it was a mistake or an “accidental discharge” as it is called, because these soldiers are trained not to miss their target. What happened to shooting in the air, or even shooting to puncture the tyre? Agreed, there is no reason to justify the driver’s wrong doing but he didn’t deserve such maleficent punishment, besides, the soldier has no constitutional right to convict road traffic offenders.

These are just two incidence which occurred in February, and in Plateau State alone. How many more Daudas and Duls would be killed before this ugly menace stops? How many more will be killed in other states? How many more civilians have yet to die in the hands of trigger-happy soldiers? I often wonder if these soldiers are subjected to any form of Emotional Intelligence (EI) test, I think it would be very important, if they want to maintain responsible soldiers on the streets (and perhaps call themselves ‘Peace Keepers’), else we will only be having ‘Peace killers’.

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JTF – Do we refer to them as Peace Keepers or Peace Killers by Bizum Yadok