‘’Soldiers have no business on our roads, airports, withdraw them now’’—-CISLAC

By Patience Ogbo

The Executive Director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, CISLAC ,Mallam Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani has urged the federal government to withdraw soldiers from the roads  and airports  . Mr. Rafsanjani stated this  at the year one media close-out on the ‘’precariousness of protection: gains, strains & pains around the protection of civilians and civilian harm mitigation in armed conflict in Lagos .

Calling for the urgent withdrawal of soldiers from roads across the country, he emphasized that the mere sight of soldiers provokes fear   among  civilians.

He said ‘’ It is disheartening to see soldiers lose their respects and dignity as they are reduced to checking  vehicles, and persons on the roads and airports. The sad reality is that their presence on the  roads have not improved the security situation as you see them also joining the police to collect illegal money from drivers. The truth is that the military has eaten the forbidden fruit and letting go of it is now difficult and the fact that the president is a former military man. If you say that they are needed on the roads and airports due to the insecurity in the country, we have the police. All the government needs  to do is to properly and adequately equip our police with the gadgets they need to do their job effectively’’.

Mr.  Rafsanjani stated that CISLAC in the last one year can look back  and count the gains, express the strains , and feel the pains in championing  the protection of civilians and mitigating harm towards them during armed conflicts.

He therefore as a way forward , offers  recommendations to strengthen the protection of civilians in Nigeria  during armed conflicts , urging  that ’’The National Assembly should as a matter of urgency, initiate legislative proceedings on the bill on protection of civilians and civilian harm mitigation in armed conflict in the National Assembly, to provide oversight frameworks and deepen accountability infrastructure within the PoC regime. The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation should as a matter of urgency, reintroduce to the Federal Executive council; the PoC draft policy for immediate assent and provide a framework for protection to the citizens and residents of the Federal republic of Nigeria’’

Also, he added  that civilians are best placed to advocate for their own protection when they have the confidence and necessary resources to articulate their concerns to security forces, as he urged the  government of Nigeria  to  help civilians better understand how security forces are organized and functions and how to present their concerns most effectively, including information on escalation channels/procedures if their initial appeals are blocked.

‘’Interventions of the government of Nigeriaandinternational donor communityintended to improve civil-security relations should consider the subject from the perspectives of both civilians and security forces, although the Government of Nigeria alone has a legal obligation to protect all civilians. Such interventions should be done with a “Do No Harm” approach – if civilians’ grievances toward the military remain unaddressed or civilians’ risk being targeted by AOGs as a result of perceived affiliation with the government, it may do more harm than good to bring the two groups together.

‘’Training of Nigerian security forces by the government of Nigeria and international donor communityshould emphasize POC, including CHM, leveraging experiential, role-playing exercises that build trainees’ understanding of the difficult choices civilians must make in conflict environments. This can help to overcome individual preconceptions and further humanize the experiences of all civilians within a diverse country like Nigeria. In addition, the Nigerian military should prioritize community engagement, training and exercises to help mitigate the potential for civilian harm, recognizing that perceptions of the military are colored by civilians’ memories of past performance’’.

Speaking further,  Mr. Rafansajani highlighted that due to the regular redeployment of security forces within the country, and between the current divisional structure of Nigeria’s military, it is essential that training for deployed forces be regular and consistent to reinforce the protection of civilians. Training should also target officers/soldiers that have direct contact with civilians, which extends far beyond training for civil-security coordination officers.

‘’ Likewise, given the frequent military rotations, organizations should introduce community groups and their activities to military personnel on a recurring basis at multiple levels of command so they always have access to report protection threats. In many areas, security forces (primarily the military) are now de facto responsible for local government in the absence of elected political leaders. It is therefore critical that ssecurity forces take reports of violations seriously and are transparent with their accountability mechanisms, that ssecurity forces report on potential civilian harm resulting from their operations and activities, and offer acknowledgement or amends for such instances. That civilians need to be made aware of the appropriate channels for reporting potential violations and civilian harm, encouraged to report potential violations, and are protected from any retaliation by accused individuals or units’’