A head of the planned nationwide protest, the Defence Headquarters has noted that while citizens have a constitutional right to peaceful protest, they do not have a right to mobilise for anarchy in order to unleash terror.
A statement by the Director Defence Media Operations (DMO) Major General Edward Buba on operational updates by the Military formations and the general security of the country calls attention to possibilities that could arise from the planned protest.
He calls to mind the happenings in Kenya which has so far been violent and unresolved to date, stating that "there are already indicators that, unscrupulous elements are bent on hijacking the planned protest for violent purposes".
"For instance, there are signs of status related violence such that persons with things as basic as a smart phone and car are targets. This does not leave out those that own a house, shop, or even use air conditioner in their houses. Other targets includes; places of worship, businesses, markets, persons of other ethnic groups and members of opposing political party among others" stated the DMO Director.
According to him, based on these assessments, the level of violence envisaged is can be described as a state of anarchy which the armed forces will not watch and allow spiral out of control.
"The military has been exposed to wars and have witnessed situations of anarchy in countries ravaged by war, particularly during ECOMOG or during peacekeeping operations. It is for this reason that, troops will act dutifully to forestall such ugly occurrences from happening in our nation"
The Defence Headquarters therefore urges citizens to note that, both the timing and the atmosphere of hardship in the country makes the planned protest different from others in the past,calling upon all citizens to quench the fires of violence rather than ignite them.
"However, for us in the military, the constitution is clear as to how and when the military gets involved, the constitution also clearly defines the roles and functions of the armed forces. On the otherhand" stated General Buba.
OPERATIONS
In the week under review, the Defence Media Operations Says troops have neutralised 106, arrested 164 persons, 32 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 103 kidnapped hostages.
In the South, the troops denied the oil theft of the estimated sum of Seven Hundred and Ninty Three Million Five Hundred and Thirty Six Thousand Naira (N793,536,000.00) only.
Troops recovered 125 assorted weapons and 1,522 assorted ammunition including 41 AK47 rifles, one PKT gun, 24 locally fabricated gun, 28 dane guns, one pump action gun, 755 rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 623 rounds of 7.62mm NATO, 102 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 63 live cartridges, 247 empty case of 7.62mm ammo, 22 AK47 magazines, one baofeng radio, 22 vehicles, 31 motorcycles, 2 bicycles, 10 mobile phones and the sum of N2,956,000.00 only amongst other items.
In the Niger Delta area troops discovered and destroyed 20 dugout pits, 24 boats and 34 storage tanks, recovering 56 cooking ovens, 2 speedboats, 14 pumping machines, 18 drums, 22 vehicles, 4 motorcycles and 36 illegal refining sites.
The troops also recovered 802,200 litres of stolen crude oil, 121,900 litres of illegally refined AGO and 450 litres of DPK..
The Director in the statement issued on Thursday, 25th July 2024 said "the ongoing multi front military operations are focussed on targeting the centre of gravity of terrorist and their cohorts across the country. Accordingly, we are finding them, flushing them out and dismantling their military, administrative and logistics capabilities across the various theatres".
He assured the nation that the troops are persistent in exerting military pressure to defeat terrorist and their cohorts in North East, North West, and North Central Zones.
According to General Buba, the military is galvanising the support of host communities, stakeholders in the oil sector as the military continue reinforcing surveillance efforts on vessels, terminals and oil infrastructures, monitoring to ensure that culprits are prosecuted by the prosecuting agencies.
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