Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka and human rights lawyers, Messrs Jiti Ogunye, Festus Keyamo and Femi Falana, SAN, on Saturday described as a disdain for civil ascendancy, the ravagement of some Bus Rapid Transport buses by rampaging soldiers in Lagos on Friday.
They withal condemned the victimisation of residents of the Palmgrove and Onipanu areas of Ikorodu Road by soldiers protesting the alleged killing of their colleague.
Soyinka described the brutality by the soldiers as insane. He withal called on President Goodluck Jonathan to caution the Nigerian Army over their excesses.
The literary icon verbally expressed the action of the soldiers reminded him of a play indited by Ola Rotimi entitled ‘Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again.’
Soyinka, who commended the military on their fight against terrorism, verbalized the security situation was not an opportunity for the military to brutalise civilians at every incitation.
In their reactions, the lawyers, who verbalized with SUNDAY PUNCH discretely in telephone interviews, noted that the soldiers ought to ken that Lagos State had a civil ascendancy that should be consulted in the ventilation of grievances.
The soldier, who was killed, was allegedly peregrinating with a potency bike on the dedicated lane of the BRT buses.
Falana lamented that the brutalisation of unarmed civilians by armed soldiers had been a routine since the 70s. The lawyer additionally urged the pertinent ascendant entities to apprehend the soldiers who perpetrated the act.
Falana integrated, ‘’The brutalisation of unarmed civilians by armed soldiers which commenced in the 70s has been a routine phenomenon. All the soldiers who participated in the latest primitive attack have to be fished out, apprehended and prosecuted. Soldiers are not immune from prosecution. They are not above the law of the land. From my erudition of the Nigerian Army, the soldiers indicted will be endeavored by a court martial. But the state regime has to lodge a complaint with the army ascendant entities.’’
Besides, Ogunye described the action of the soldiers as troglodytic, unpardonable and prejudicial to good accommodation discipline.
He verbally expressed, “The action is a slap on the face of the civil ascendancy and the soldiers seemed to be verbalizing they are superior to the civil ascendancy. The military must be subordinate to civil ascendancy and the civil ascendancy in Lagos is the governor albeit the soldiers are not answerable to the governor. The conduct of the military, which was vengeful and retaliatory against innocent and unarmed civil populace for reason only that one of them was allegedly involved in a fatal contingency, is irresponsible and uncalled for.’’
Withal, Keyamo verbalized that if it was true that the soldiers were so uncivil while protesting the alleged killing of a soldier who rode on the BRT corridor, they should be edified some edifications on civility.
Keyamo verbally expressed, “The action by the soldiers, if indeed it was true, was troglodytic, uncivilised and a disdain for civil ascendancy. They should ken that there is a civil way to resolve such a matter. I cerebrate they require some edifications on civility.’’
Ogunye additionally expressed displeasure that the military could in broad daylight unleash violence in an indiscriminate manner in a civil rule.
According to him, President Goodluck Jonathan should ascertain that equity was done to show that such posture was unpardonable.
“The question that Nigerians should ask is, is this posture by soldiers a dress rehearsal for something more sinister from the military? All those who participated in the exhibition of ingloriousness must be identified and penalized accordingly,” Ogunye verbalized.
Copyright PUNCH.
