By Chukwudi Nweje
The Christmas and New Year celebrations may be low keyed in the South East as those travelling home have decried the heavy military presence at the Niger Bridge, and police roadblocks across the Igbo homeland.
It would be recalled that the Nigerian Army on Monday, November 28, launched ‘Operation Python Dance’ in the South-East part of the country. The Army explained that the exercise became imperative in anticipation of rise in violent crimes during the Yuletide.
In a statement issued in Awka, the Anambra State capital, the Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, Colonel Sagir Musa, pointed out that the operation would last from November 27 to December 27.
The statement reads in part: “It would be recalled that the Chief of Army Staff, having painstakingly appraised the myriad of security challenges and scenarios across the country, directed on the conduct of both command post and field training exercises as a way of enhancing troops’ preparedness across the spectrum of contemporary challenges.
“Similarly, Exercise Python Dance has been planned for the South East Region from 27 November to 27 December, 2016.
“The prevalent security issues such as armed robbery, kidnapping, abduction, herdsmen-farmers clashes, communal clashes and violent secessionist attacks, among others, would be targeted.
“In this wise, the exercise would be multi-agency in nature, whereby the Nigerian Army and other security agencies are expected to synergise and collaborate extensively.”
However, people of the South East have complained that “The sheer number of police checkpoints on southeast roads makes the zone look like it is under siege, like a conquered territory and this is breeding ill-feelings and frustration,” and therefore urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Ibrahim Idris, “to urgently intervene and address the concerns of citizens travelling to the Southeast during this yuletide.”
In a petition to the Inspector General, Mr. Okechukwu Nwanguma, national coordinator of the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), noted that the police roadblocks which are “within very close range to each other are seriously obstructing, rather than easing, free flow of traffic.”
Nwanguma added that although the need for police patrol to beef up security and ensure the safety and security of road users, especially during this period cannot be overemphasized, that the prevailing circumstances have “become counterproductive by constituting a source of suffering for the citizens” and therefore calls for urgent review.
“The sheer number of police checkpoints on southeast roads makes the zone look like it is under siege, like a conquered territory and this is breeding ill-feelings and frustration.
“We are not aware that the ban on police checkpoints have been lifted. What we know the police have ordered are police patrols, not road blocks or checkpoints.
“These checkpoints have historically been known to be nothing more than avenues for extortion, harassment and killings.
“We therefore, request the IGP to order a review and close monitoring of the operations and activities of personnel within the Southeast zone to ensure that they carry out their duties in a proper, citizen-friendly and lawful manner that does not constitute traffic obstruction and inconveniences, or become avenues for extortion and harassment of road users,” he said.
