By. Dr. Charles Ikedikwa Soeze
No doubt, it is abundantly and crystal clear that in every human society, there is bound to be people who will not obey the customs and laws of the society. In most modern societies, it therefore become appropriate to regulate the behavior of people and to defend the land is the reason for setting up certain agencies to do those jobs. As a result, Nigeria has set up an Army a Navy, the Air Force, the Police, and other security agencies such as the immigration, customs and state security services. However, since the constitution states that the primary purpose of government in Nigeria is to secure the welfare of the citizens, I think and believe any of the arms or all of the arms can be used at any time for the benefits of Nigerians including at elections.
Furthermore, the same constitution gives the Army, Navy and Air Force, the job of defending Nigeria against attack from the outside and to protect Nigerian territory on land, sea, and air. The main function of the state security services (SSS) is the prevention of national security. To do this, they move around to get information about the activities of citizens of Nigeria or foreigners which may likely undermine the security of Nigeria. Such information is collected and sent to government for its use.
The armed forces are a creation of the Constitution Section 217 (1) of the Constitution so reads: “There shall be armed forces for the federation which shall consist of an Army, an Air force and such other branches of the armed forces of the federation as may be established by an Act of the National Assembly”. The purposes that the armed forces can be directed towards are listed in section 217 (2) of the Constitution to wit. “the federation shall, subject to an Act of the National Assembly made in that behalf, equip and maintain the armed forces as may be considered adequate and effective for the purpose of; defending Nigeria from external aggression; maintaining its territorial integrity and securing its borders from violation on land, sea or air; suppressing insurrection and acting in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so by the President, but subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly; and performing such other functions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly”.
In view of the above therefore, the effect of the provision of the Armed Forces Act (AFA) is that the President has the power to decide how, when, where, why, where the operations of the Armed Forces are utilized. The President has the power to deploy the Armed Forces as he deems fit and may under a general or special directive delegate his responsibility for the day–to–day operational use.
The most important thing that comes up is, is the use of the military in elections an extension of the day-to-day operational use. It is a truism that the Constitution itself allows the President to direct the operational use of the armed forces of the Federation. Section 218 (1) “the power of the President as the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the federation shall include power to determine the operational use of the armed forces of the federation”.
It is abundantly clear from the above provisions that the President has constitutional power to determine the operational use of the armed forces of the federation and such power is mostly exercised where there is an imminent/foreseen danger to the peace and security of the Country. This is further supported by the Armed Forces Act (AFA) which provides in Section 8 as follows, “the President shall determine the operational use of the Armed Forces, but may, under general or special directives, delegate the responsibility for day-to-day operational use of the Armed Forces to the Chief of Defence Staff; of the Army to the Chief of Army Staff; of the Air Force to the Chief of Air Force. It shall be the duty of the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Naval Staff and the Chief of Air Staff as the case may be to comply with any directive given to them by the President under subsection (1) of this section”.
In this section, “operational use of the Armed Forces” includes the operational use of the Armed Forces in Nigeria for the purpose of maintaining and securing public safety and public order. Therefore, the use of the military in elections it is not only legal but it is also practical.
The customs and Excise department ensures that Nigeria is secured by preventing prohibited goods from being smuggled into the country or taken out of Nigeria. The immigration department prevents foreigners from illegally entering Nigeria or staying in the country unlawfully. Based on their functions as stipulated in the constitution, they can be used to monitor elections on the day of voting based on their constitutional responsibilities. It requires the Nigerian society to be organized on the basis of the principles of equality, social justice, equity and the rule of law. In other words, the law is supreme over any person or group of persons. No one is above the law or is allowed to misuse the law in any way. The law is to be interpreted and applied impartially.
In addition, all citizens of Nigeria are guaranteed certain fundamental rights by the constitution. Some of these rights are the rights to life, the right to dignity of the human person, the right to personal liberty, the right to fair hearing, the right to freedom from discrimination, etc. These rights are expected to be respected by all citizens, including the police, the Armed forces and the state security services (SSS) and agencies in the performance of their duties including monitoring of elections.
It is appropriate to say that these rights have not always been protected by these government agencies. For example, the right to dignity of the human person requires that no person shall be treated like an animal or subjected to torture or humiliation, but some soldiers and police men beat up civilians with koboko (horse whip). Similarly, the right to life requires that no one kills another person but some Police men and soldiers have been known to kill some people. Even some civilians who claimed to be big and powerful from certain part of the country who claim superiority have known to arrest subordinate staffers for no just cause without following due process by giving official query, but quickly hand over to Police for prosecution because of power drunk, what a dangerous dichotomy indeed!
In addition, the right to personal liberty entitles every citizen not to be unlawfully deprived of his or her personal liberty. This right means that people should not be detained unlawfully or for more than 24 hours. However, we know of instances where the police have detained people unlawfully for more than 24 hours. In some cases, the people have died in detention.
Furthermore, the right to fair hearing means that an accused person should not be punished until proved guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. However, it is common knowledge that accused people are often treated as if they are guilty before being taken to court. In fact, some bad police men have been known to take bribes from accused persons and even to cooperate with some criminals. Some bad customs and excise officials have been known to take bribes and to allow banned goods into the country against the law. There have been reports that even some State Security Agents compile lies and extra – ordinary stories about innocent people in order to earn promotion. In this connection, they spoil the reputation of innocent people and discredit our national intelligence services. This weakens our national security.
The behaviors of the “bad eggs” in the police and other security services have made some Nigerians to lose confidence in these organizations. This is very bad for the country because many people no longer report crimes to them as good citizens should do. Hence, some people doubt their integrity in the monitoring of the forthcoming 2015 elections. One may ask how can this bad situation be changed? For the police, the armed forces and other security agencies shortcomings to be corrected to improve their performances in a democratic structure, our police, soldiers and security agents must be made to realize through political education that it is the wealth created by the people of Nigeria that sustains them and as a result, they should remain, trustworthy and perform their national duties with agility, ability, and utmost confidence. They should realize that all their uniforms, kits, equipment and the facilities which make their work and training possible, including their salaries are paid from the wealth of the nation, created by the people. As a result, their first obligation should be naturally to the people. The training of the police and other forces and security agents should emphasize their loyalty to the nation and service to the people. Recruits should be trained to support and fight for the democratic interests of the people and to defend their rights. These rights should be particularly taught to all recruits. The forces should improve on the relationship between them and the population wherever they live and work. They should cooperate with the people in fighting crime. In order to achieve this, Police – Community Relations Committees (PCRCs) should be established everywhere and taken seriously. A good relationship between the police and the people will help the police to do their work very well. The other forces also require the good cooperation and support of the people to do their work well. The police should also stop treating people who report crimes to them as the first suspects. By treating honest people who come to give police information as suspects with harassment, delays and “come today, come tomorrow”, people refuse to help police.
Whatever, the case may be the best guarantee for success of the police, soldiers and other security agents is a good working relationship with the people. It will enable them to be efficient and effective in monitoring 2015 elections and other future elections among other national duties.
Charles Ikedikwa Soeze, fhnr, fcida, fcai, fswca, chnr, cpae, son, ghnr, emba, ksq is a mass communication scholar from first degree to doctoral level. Retired Assistant Director (Administration)/Head, Academic & Physical Planning (A&PP) of the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Effurun, Delta State, Nigeria. (08036724193) charlessoeze@yahoo.ca
