Many Nigerians are afraid of men in military uniform. The fear seems in-built due to past experiences. Not just the military, but even the ”police is your friend” slogan has not changed people’s perceptions about the security agency and several others and this may continue for some time to come, writes TADE MAKINDE.
UNIFORMS through the ages serve several purposes, some of which include identification, enhancement of social status and sometimes patriotism. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, uniforms, especially military and para-military uniforms are used to intimidate and sometimes commit infractions with impunity.
Thus Fela Anikulapo Kuti sang of the atrocities of these agencies in one of his albums: So policeman go slap your face you no go talk…
Army man go whip your yansh you go dey look like monkey… Dem leave sorrow, tears and blood, dem regular trade mark…
But is it right for Nigerians to be morbidly afraid of those expected to protect them from harm?
Psychology of fear
When asked if it is okay for Nigerians to be fearful of anyone in military uniforms, Professor Oyesoji Aremu of Counselling, Policing and Criminal Justice, Strategic Studies Unit, University of Ibadan, suggested that first of all, the social and psychological issues that are attached to uniform wearing should be addressed.
“Uniform wearing, whether among security personnel or not, enhances social status and could also confer legitimacy and authority on the one wearing it, especially among the security personnel. It becomes expedient therefore; and naturally of course, for the civilians at first sighting of security personnel, depending on their roles, to develop some emotions. Whether these emotions would be natural or morbid depends on the antecedents of the security personnel and past experiences of members of the public.
“Members of the public are not expected to be afraid of security personnel. Instead, their constitutional roles of guaranteeing safety should motivate the public to see them as friends. Unfortunately, this is not so in some instances,” he told Sunday Tribune.
The psychologist gave two reasons for peoples’ morbid fear of security personnel which are the antecedents of the personnel and also, their past experiences.
“More often than not, people have come to have deep-seated reticence against the rank and file of some security agencies in Nigeria. This is often disturbing and most times, rub off on public acceptance of such personnel. It should be known that experiences of many law-abiding Nigerians are terrible, given some behaviour of security agencies/paramilitary personnel. These, make people wearing uniforms of such agencies to be detested, scorned and negatively labeled, even if they are on duty carrying out legitimate operations.”
Fear of uniforms
Why are Nigerians unable to stand up to their rights when confronted by uniformed men? A legal practitioner, barrister Gbenga Makinde of Olujimi & Akeredolu’s Law Hub, Ibadan, Oyo State believes it is all about fear.
“That’s just the only explanation. Nigerians are afraid of anything; any man in paramilitary uniform, From the ill- treatment of many in the past, especially that of Fela, Nigerians began to fear officers in uniform. People named them‘”kill and go.” “These officers exploit this fear and do the unacceptable. But because many Nigerians don’t know their rights, they can’t stand up to some of the officers who abuse their rights.
“Nigerians don’t even know that they have rights to dignity. Under no circumstance should anyone be humiliated by anybody as long as he or she is operating within the ambit of the law, but how many know this and how far are those who know their rights willing to go if they are so abused or humiliated by uniformed men?
“Because the uniformed officer can sense that you are afraid of him, he will work on you knowing for a fact that you are afraid and will use that to a hurtful end. Even as a lawyer, if an armed officer slaps me, common sense will tell me not to by any rights with an armed officer. That will be fool hardy. But I can take it up later with evidence,” he added.
Evidence
As much as Nigerians have rights, proving it becomes difficult, if the words of a retired police officer who is now the Chief Security Officer of a private university in the Southern part of the country are anything to go by. The man who does not want to be identified told Sunday Tribune that: “When policemen collect N20 from commercial drivers, the only way you can prove it is to show the receipt that the collecting officer has given you. So, who is that officer that will do that?
“The reason Nigerians fear anyone in military uniform is because they are seen as government so to say, or representatives of government, which is true. But either as government or its representatives, people also have rights against any form of abuse, even against uniformed officers. Nigerians have been so cowed that they take everything to be an act of God. Knowing that Nigerians fear anything that has government seal to it, they fold their arms and allow some paramilitary officers to use that fear against them. That is very sad. In saner societies, nobody gets away with human rights abuses, especially those committed by military officers,” he explained.
Right to humane treatment
Comrade Mashood Erubami, President, Nigeria Voters’ Assembly, agreed that legal steps can be taken to deal with any erring military officer and that the victim “on his or her own, or through human right groups, can take up such cases to court to secure justice and prevent a reccurrence of such brutality in future. Victims, he said, could also demand compensation including an apology from the perpetrator if the damage is minimal.
“People are not usually inclined to fight for their rights or push for justice when brutalised because of the general mindset that they cannot get justice. There are lots of injustice in the activities of uniform men and women. They commit offences which are not supported by Nigerian laws. Beating a suspect, degrading the dignity of a suspect, or even torturing a suspect to extract information, either to cause bodily harm or death, are alien to our laws.
“When we were harassed as human rights and pro-democracy activists in the past, we did not take our cases of harassment up, especially after our releases from detention, as political offenders. We were only eager to escape from detention, not in getting compensations. Today, a human rights group does not stop at securing the release of detainees any longer, especially when the detention is illegal. Further actions are now being taken to secure justice through demands for damages in monetary terms to discourage evil minded uniform men and women from further committing such dastardly acts,” he added.
As regards punishment for erring officers, it is very obvious that Nigerians don’t get justice because in most cases punishment meted to offenders is not disclosed to the public. That is why according to Biodun Ajenifuja, an Osogbo-based computer analyst, offending officers are treated with kids gloves.
“It’s almost two months since some SARS officials were named as bribe collectors while the IGP promised to punish those reportedly involved in harassing people for money; but what has happened after the initial noise? I praise the Nigerian media for exposing the bad eggs in the society, but compromised leaders are frustrating efforts at ensuring that Nigerians can truly trust men and women in uniforms when these people are not ready to change,” he fumed.
Damage control
For Professor Oyesoji Aremu, handling the challenge of reticence against uniform-wearing security personnel could be very daunting, given the age-long opprobrium Nigerians have against some officers.
“Psychological reorientation of members of the public is a possibility, which would be a two-way approach. First, those in question would have to carry out a thorough cleansing,” he said, noting that it would, however, be a huge task because the problem is systemic, even as the traditional image laundering by many of the security agencies has not changed the psychological profile of the average Nigerian against uniformed personnel.
He also said that Nigerians need to purge themselves of the deep-seated hatred they have for some of the agencies, especially the police which he said “would also require serious cognitive reorientation and social debriefing.”
Professor Aremu, however, agreed that the judiciary has a lot to do to protect all, if it must be of any help.
“Any assault (physical or emotional) by the security agencies should be reported with a view to seeking a redress. It is the best practice globally. What members of the public need is the courage to approach the criminal justice,” he said.
Even as Nigerians grapple with relating well with their fellow Nigerians in military, police and other uniforms, it is noteworthy that the unfriendly relationship dates back to the pre-colonial times and smoothening out the relationship may take decades if not forever before the average Nigerian can begin to see the man in uniform as his friend or seek justice when his right rights are violated by these operatives.