By Jane Okafor, Abuja
The Nigerian military on Friday warned that it will step in to restore normalcy if looting, violence and arson trailing the ongoing nationwide hunger protests did not abate.
The protest tagged #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria.enterted its second day on Friday. No fewer than 17 people were reported to have died on the first day of the protest which began yesterday, Wednesday while private and public properties worth billions of Naira were also looted, vandalised or set ablaze.
Borno, Kano, Niger, Adamawa States – all in the North geopolitical zone, where the protests were most violent, witnessed the heaviest losses.while down South the protest was relatively peaceful save in Lagos and Bayelsa States respectively where pockets of violence were observed.
However, addressing newsmen in Abuja on Friday, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa, expressed concern over the level of destruction that occurred on Day One of the protests, describing it as “crazy.”
The CDS appealed to Nigerians to be united in order to arrest the ugly trend of looting and vandalisation, pointing out that the the military was aware of the “grievances” of the protesters over the challenging economic difficulties in the country, but urged them to show some understanding to the Federal Government.
He warned that the military and other security agencies “will not fold” their arms and “allow this country to be destroyed,” stressing that security agencies are working to identify the sponsors.
Musa said, “We are supporting the police all through. We are just on standby. The police are doing a good job; they are handling the situation for now.
“Unless it breaches beyond what they can handle, then the military will step in. The military is on standby and we are watching day and night.
“So, we want to call on all Nigerians to understand the government. If you have grievances, which I know people have, a lot of challenges here and there, and it is not only in Nigeria alone; everywhere in the world is facing one economic or security crisis or the other. And so, it is important to understand that we are not alone.
“But what we can do is not allow criminals and individuals that have lost out to take advantage of this to destroy our country. We should realise that these destructions, monies have to be used to replace them so that we can move forward.
“We know we are challenged as a nation but we know we will overcome working together as Nigerians… Let us avoid anything that will bring mayhem to our country.
“Yesterday (Thursday), we saw the level of destruction that has been carried out. Just yesterday. So you can imagine if this continues for so long.
“Yesterday, we saw some people breaking down houses, stealing windows and doors. It was just crazy yesterday and we don’t want that to happen again.
“The Armed Forces and the entire security agencies will not stand by and see that to continue. We want to warn those that are recalcitrant; those that don’t want to listen that we will not fold our arms and allow this country to be destroyed.”
He, however, assured that the military will be professional in its engagement, also assuring that anyone caught looting and/or stealing will be prosecuted.
“We will take action and the action we will take, we will take it professionally. Anyone that is caught will be taken to court and will be dealt with
“There are a bunch of people who believe that it is only through this medium that they will be able to loot, steal and destroy. And that is what they tried to do yesterday but we have arrested most of them that broke into places to steal and they will be prosecuted accordingly.
“We are also going behind to ensure that we also identify those that are involved; there are individuals who are sponsoring them, pushing them to do this, we are going after them,” he said.
