The report of soldiers harassing residents of communities in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State to allow herdsmen access to their land for grazing is not only troubling, but is extremely worrying.
Numerous residents of Ketu-Yewa speaking area spreading across various villages were reportedly flogged and treated to other brutal and dehumanizing actions by the soldiers believed to be from Artillery Brigade 35, Alamala, Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.
The action of these soldiers desecrates the rule of law, infringes the human rights of citizens and worsens the already fraught atmosphere of intra-ethnic tensions and animosity across the country. Actions such as these undermine the democratic legitimacy and moral authority of the various governments in Nigeria at all levels and would encourage citizens to resort to self-help in filling the gap created by wilful dereliction of the duty of the state to protect the citizens.
We therefore demand the Nigerian Army to immediately launch a probe into the incident, unravel the identities of the soldiers that carried out this scandalous action that has brought the Nigerian Army into disrepute and punish them appropriately. It is in the best interest of the Nigerian Army to identify the soldiers on the illegal duty and distance itself from their disgraceful actions. Anything short of that means the Nigeria Army condones illegality, criminal impunity and is directly complicit in criminal endeavours against innocent Nigerians by criminal elements.
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