This might not be unconnected with the ‘humiliation’ of an Army Colonel by Governor Babatunde Fashola on Tuesday for driving on BRT lane.
The soldiers attacked the taskforce officials with bottles and stones and used knife to puncture two tyres of the Black Maria used in conveying offenders.
Trouble started on Murtala Muhammed Way, Yaba close to an Army barracks when the taskforce officials, who were on patrol to ensure smooth flow of traffic, spotted a commuter bus parked in the middle of the road and obstructing traffic.
The tasforce officials were said to have accosted the driver but a soldier who was sitting in the bus collected the key from the driver to prevent the taskforce officials from taking the bus away.
The soldier was said to have called for reinforcement from the 81 Division barracks and within minutes, several soldiers trooped out from the barracks and began to haul stones and other dangerous missiles at the taskforce officials.
Some of the soldiers were said to be making unsavoury remarks about the governor for daring to arrest and humiliate an Army Colonel on Tuesday and decided to vent their anger on the taskforce officials.
As the situation worsened, the taskforce also called for a reinforcement.
It was in the heat of the clash that the tyres of the Black Maria were torn with knife and deflated.
An eye witness said a top military officer, a Lieutenant, allegedly ordered his boys to abduct some of the taskforce officials and take them to the barracks.
Calm was restored when a senior taskforce official intervened and asked his boys to beat a retreat.
Taskforce Chairman, Bayo Sulaiman confirmed the attack on his men and described it as an affront on the state government for soldiers to vandalise government vehicle.
He said it was wrong for soldiers to attack taskforce officials on legitimate duty with stones and other dangerous weapons.
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This is madness on d part of soldiers. Your Oga was caught red handed yesterday and today you people went mad. One thing is sure, after ur service year in d military, you will becom a civilian once again. The nigerian military have lost dignity, respect and trust of people like me. Nigeria is not good, because we don't obey simple instruction. Ha ba!
ReplyDeleteIt is a pity most of our Soldiers put themselves above the Laws of the land.
ReplyDeleteIt is high time to find works for these men after all we are
not at war with any country.
Vocational works will keep these useful instead of causing trouble in our society.
What happened to the Colonel has nothing to do with humiliation but the stark reality that we are no more in the dark military era. While not supporting the military in what may have happened at Yaba, the activities of the lagos state agencies need be scrutinised. LASTMA, Enviromental whatever etc are gradually becoming demagogues with their pockets above every thing. Chief of Army Staff, have you courtmatialled the Colonel? The other rank at Palmgrove the other time was handcuffed for the same BRT offence! What of the Colonel? The whole world is waiting!
ReplyDeleteAn idle mind they say,is d devils workers! Dis sodiers jst parambulate d barrack doin notin.they should mk dem bizy by sendin dem 2 d north 2 fight boko haram, Afganistan or somalia 2 fight Alsha bab rebels.I Wonder if wat they spent yrs learnin in d military is to intimidate civiliance.They shld find thier match!..#lemogobrown#
ReplyDeleteSoldiers in other country are inventing things. Ours have become abero and tauts
ReplyDeleteArmy is too powerfull in society. Even FG is fearfull of them. Time to pull their teeth now. Modern country cannot fear their own army!!! Start at the top...
ReplyDeleteThis latest act is pure madness! Governor Fashola CANNOT be intimidated! No way! Just as he said, anyone who is not willing to obey the laws in Lagos State should just leave! I got to learn that. A senior military officer. Was trying to justify the flagrant disobedience of the rule of traffic law by his colleague by stating that "afterall it a Federal Road and the office saluted BRF ...what else does the Governor want?". What the heck?
ReplyDeleteSmh...
ReplyDeleteEven God with his uniqueness in power, Glory and with whom nothing is impossible obey his own rules and regulations. So why does our military have this mightier than thou ego? let them obey the law and they will be respected instead of bullying their way through everything and everybody.
ReplyDeleteSome of the soldiers are goats and the need regular training to make them have human face. What is wrong with complying with law and order? In other countries, citizens look up to soldiers when they are in danger. Here, in Nigeria, our men in khaki are on the road to demostrate thier might by breaking the rules. Kudos to Governor Fashola. May I use this media to suggest that any officer caught misbehaving like the officer passing through the BRT line, and those involved in deflating government vehicles as mentioned above should be demoted by two ranks below their present grades. This will reduce the excesses of the idiots.
ReplyDeleteU̶̲̥̅̊ guys r just talkin lik ds w all knw wat ds soldiers av done in ds country,talkin of nija-delta w all knw hundreds of military personnel dat died b4 w restore peace.hw many of us can release his/her family memebers 4sacrifice 4ds unfaithfull country(govt).On d snr officer issue.w all knw abt army job.d snr officer can b on official duty dat deals wt human lifes,a whole state or country may b he ws sent by chief of army staff or tryin 2catch up w troops goin 2any of d trouble states.w all knw dat ds pple r alwaz inhurry cos dey don't av excuse of comin late 4dr boss.sry 2say govr fashola should av allowed him,after all is d same millitary pple fashola used during subsidy & 4security everywr morova dey'v bn very loyal 2ds lagos state on security issue. Daz d reason america respect ds pple cos dey knw dey can't stand wtout military.duo am nt In support of indiscipline bt our country needs 2respect ds pple cos of dr impact in our country so far till date.God bless nigeria God bless lagos state.
ReplyDeleteSoldiers were known for discipline in democratic era. This is absolute nonsense on the part of soldiers.
ReplyDeleteServe the Task force right! Are they not worse in their own conduct to their co-civillians than the soldiers? All this Agberos that politicians use in rigging election and later co-opt into one kind of task force or the other are as inhuman and lawless as their employer. They have no single sense of respect for the rule of law and hide under the guise of Task force to abuse the Human right of the ppl. The soldiers may not have acted right but i think just as one good turn deserves another, so also one bad turn deserves another.They soldiers should have deflated their mouth and not the tires.
ReplyDeleteBloody idiots in worn-out rags calling themselves task force.Nonsense!
The anonymous guy that wrote before Darius.... E be like say your papa na Army barrack... Lol
ReplyDeleteHAA Naija. no body kno d reason why Colonel tk BRT LN,It may be 4 important issues, bcus for A Colonel 2 take BRT LN dE..MUST BE A REASON.
ReplyDeletei believe that no should be above the rules that guide discipline in Lagos state,but on the other hand the people employed by Lagos state Government to enforce these rules most times have caused more menace than good in executing their duties.They extort,they bully,and most times engage in criminal things while on duty in the name of serving Lagos state.i don't feel even a bit sorry for what happened to the task force officials because in truth,they are not any better than the Hooligans that attacked them.To me,this is a pure case of hooligan fighting hooligan, maybe for revenge!
ReplyDeleteLet the military name their inventions in Nigeria since their existence, all they have caused nigeria in huge loses of salaries they collect without many of them lifting a finger every month in the name of security vote, they created all these problems we are battling with from land dispute, to dilapidated refineries, terrible roads, huge inflations, mass unemplyment etc, and now they are insurbordinating themsleves against constituted authority. The law must not spare these unscropulous elements starting from the colonel that used BRT lane to the miscreants in soldier uniforms in deplored to the scene of yaba incidence and hence forth all security men must be made to pay transport fares all over Nigeria. Nonsense!!!
ReplyDeleteBut we should have respect for our Army. The task force should have pardoned the said driver for the fact that a passenger that happened to be a soldier pleaded on behalf of the driver.
ReplyDeleteI am not saying drivers should be misbehaving when carrying a uniform personnel, but at least because of the soldier as one of the passengers, I guess a respect should have been accorded.
Also the task force excessive power is something else, at times it annoys.
IF A SNAKE DON'T SHOW WHAT MAKES IT A SNAKE,WOMEN WILL USE IT FOR A WAIST BELT.SOLDIERS SHOLD NEVER BE HUMILIATED BEFORE THE PUBLIC,WHY WOULD A COMMON BLOODY CIVILIAN HUMILIATE AN ARMY COLONEL,JUST BECAUSE HE HOLDS A TEMPORARY GOBERNATORIAL POSITION;WHY MUST BRT OCCUPY HALF THE EXISTING LIMITED ROAD?,WHY CAN'T THE GOVERNOR CONSTRUCT A NEW ROAD FOR THE SO CALLED BRT?. WHEN A DEADLY MATTER ARISES NOW,HE WILL HIDE AND ASK THOSE DIE HARD SOLDIERS TO GO AND DIE.AM NOT A SOLDIER BUT LET IT REMAIN A CAREER THAT COMMANDS RESPECT.
ReplyDeleteHUMILIATE AN ARMY COLONEL,JUST BECAUSE HE HOLDS A TEMPORARY GOBERNATORIAL POSITION;WHY MUST BRT OCCUPY HALF THE EXISTING LIMITED ROAD?,WHY CAN'T THE GOVERNOR CONSTRUCT A NEW ROAD FOR THE SO CALLED BRT?. WHEN A DEADLY MATTER ARISES NOW,HE WILL HIDE AND ASK THOSE DIE HARD SOLDIERS TO GO AND DIE.AM NOT A SOLDIER BUT LET IT REMAIN A CAREER THAT COMMANDS RESPECT
ReplyDeleteIF A SNAKE DON'T SHOW WHAT MAKES IT A SNAKE,WOMEN WILL USE IT FOR A WAIST BELT.SOLDIERS SHOLD NEVER BE HUMILIATED BEFORE THE PUBLIC,WHY WOULD A COMMON BLOODY CIVILIAN HUMILIATE AN ARMY COLONEL,JUST BECAUSE HE HOLDS A TEMPORARY GOBERNATORIAL POSITION;WHY MUST BRT OCCUPY HALF THE EXISTING LIMITED ROAD?,WHY CAN'T THE GOVERNOR CONSTRUCT A NEW ROAD FOR THE SO CALLED BRT?. WHEN A DEADLY MATTER ARISES NOW,HE WILL HIDE AND ASK THOSE DIE HARD SOLDIERS TO GO AND DIE.AM NOT A SOLDIER BUT LET IT REMAIN A CAREER THAT COMMANDS RESPECT
ReplyDeleteIN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES, SOLDIERS BUILD DAM,BRIDGES AND HELP THE ECONOMY GROW. LIKEWISE POLICE TOO, THEY ISSUE LEGITIMATE TICKETS AND GENERATE MONEY FOR THE CITY AND COUNTY. A COUNCILMAN CAN ORDER A SENIOR OFFICERS ARREST.BUT IN NIGERIA, UNIFORM MEN AND WOMEN ALMOST WANT EVERYTHING FREE, FROM FREE RIDE, UNIFORM, ACCOMMODATION, TO FREE FOODSTUFFS WHAT A SHAME.OFFICERS STILL CLAIM THEY'RE ABOVE THE LAW OF A CONSTITUENT DEMOCRATIC RULE. MAYBE WE DON'T HAVE A DEMOCRACY TATH'S WHY THEY BEHAVE LIKE RASCALS, TOO MUCH ILLITRACY?. THE SOLDIERS WHO DEFLATE AND TORN TYRES SHOULD BE DISMISS AND CHARGE WITH FELONY FOR DESTROYING GOVT. PROPERTIES, TO ACT AS A COGENT WARNING TO OTHERS. STEVE B.
ReplyDeleteThugs vs. Thugs. Nothing spoil.
ReplyDeleteThe task force is increasingly high handed and extortionate in its dealings with commercial transporters of all types.
The army is equally intoxicated by any power of authority they may have.
Fact of the matter is that the central government is so weak that the army may be back in power within the year.
Steve B pls educate your self before posting on blogs. Soldiers do not get anything for free if not provided as part of there service entitlements, and no soldier gets free foodstuff. Free uniforms only on joining the force. I'm not saying they are perfect but who is in Nigeria? I'm presently in the US and I see the way the govt appreciates the military for their sacrifices. Make enquiries about the number of soldiers that died in the Niger Delta and more recently in the North, what has your civillians in govt done for their families? Will you be willing to go to a place where people are dying and will possibly die, because your nation needs you there? That is what these people do everyday.
ReplyDeleteThe problem of Nigeria is corruption and the civillians are far more corrupt than the military. Compare police,costums, etc with the military and see what I mean. Go to any federal or state govt parastatal to process anything, and you will see what corruption is, down to the lowest levels.
Why do Nigerians so easily lose sight of the major ails of the country and keep bickering about unimportant things. instead of fighting curroption we are busy criticising the only group of people showing real patriotism for the country.
Steve B, u are a fool, how can you say soliders shld be above the law... Thats they bully u and bulley your family. Ode
ReplyDelete