My grandmother, of blessed memory, told me a story of something that happened in her community many years ago.
Two men got into a quarrel over a business they had done. One felt the other cheated him and secretly swore to take his pound of flesh. The one who was accused of shortchanging his friend built a house with part of the proceeds of the transaction.
That house was the target of the aggrieved friend.
One night, when everyone had gone to bed and everywhere was quiet, the aggrieved friend, hiding under the cover of darkness, snuck to his friend’s house, poured petrol on it and set it ablaze, in the hope that the alleged cheat and his family would be killed.
Unfortunately, the man of the house had gone on a trip but his wife and four kids paid the price for their husband and father’s actions. They were burnt to death in the building.
This was what the Nigerian Army did when they invaded and launched an offensive on communities in Konshisha and Gwer East local government areas of Benue State, after the alleged attack and killing of some of its personnel who were on a peace mission to the area. Military gunships flew over and rained bullets on the villages, leaving sorrow, tears and blood in their trail.
Two communities, Bonta and Okpute in Konshisha and Oju local governments, respectively, were involved in a communal clash and the soldiers, according to the Army Headquarters, were deployed on a special operation to quell the tension in the communities but the mission turned out to be ill-fated when they were ambushed and killed by some youths, said to be known as ‘Bonta Boys.’
According to reports, the soldiers were travelling in an unmarked vehicle when they were stopped by youths at a road block at Bonta and the youths asked them to follow them to see the youth leader, which they accepted and it was while on the way that they were surrounded by more youth, overpowered and killed.
Ever since I read that piece of news about how the soldiers were ambushed and led away to be killed, I have struggled to make sense of it. It is preposterous that well-trained and armed soldiers could fall into such a trap. How did the boys do it? What did they say to convince the soldiers? Were they hypnotised? How come none of the soldiers suspected the intent of the ‘Bonta Boys’ till they got to the point they were overpowered and only one of them managed to escape and was the one who brought back the news, as reported?
To avenge the killing of their colleagues, the Nigerian army in keeping with its tradition of levelling down communities for offences against their officers and men, as they did in Zaki Biam, Benue state and Odi, Bayelsa State, years back, invaded the community, destroying everything on sight in a sustained onslaught that began on April 7.
The militarisation of the civil space and undue involvement of the military in issues that can be well handled by the police, NSCDC and other similar forces have been a cause of concern and this is one incident that proves it is not the best way to go at all times. The job of the army, as I know it, is to protect the territorial integrity of the country from external aggressors. At least this is what I learnt in elementary government studies.
That is why the involvement of the Army and the use of disproportionate force against unarmed civilians, and what can pass for a resort to jungle justice, rather than tact and professionalism in handling the matter, is reprehensible and uncalled for.
While the killing of the soldiers is totally condemnable and cannot be excused under any guise, it is not enough justification for the attempt at annihilation of communities in the manner the Army did. After all, two wrongs, they say, do not make a right.
All over the world, collective punishment carried out against members of communities, for the offences of their members is a war crime. Collective punishment is a form of retaliation whereby a suspected perpetrator’s family members, friends, acquaintances, sect, class, political affiliation, neighbours or entire ethnic group is targeted. The punished group may often have no direct association with the other individuals or groups, or direct control over their actions. Collective punishment has in times of war, resulted in atrocities and is a violation of the laws of war and the Geneva Conventions. The prohibition of collective punishment is clearly stated in the Hague Regulations and the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions 1949. It is also recognised in Additional Protocols I and II of 1977 as a fundamental guarantee for all civilians and persons hors de combat (incapacitated military personnel involved in combat).
Nigeria is not an exception to these conventions. Every country has ratified the Geneva Conventions, making them universally embraced.
Bombarding communities, displacing people and destroying their livelihoods to punish the actions of a few dissidents among them is not the way to go, especially for a lawful organisation like the Nigerian Army. In punishing crime, due consideration must be made for the rights to life, fair hearing, ownership of property and dignity of the human person, all of which are guaranteed by the 1999 constitution of Nigeria (as amended), all of which were violated by the Nigeria Army.
Individuals should be punished for their own crimes, not their communities or affiliates. As we say in local parlance, they should answer their fathers’ names.
To underscore the danger of collective punishment using the instant case, apart from Bonta, where the unfortunate killing of the soldiers took place, more than 12 other communities in Konshisha were bombarded by the Army as well as a few others in Gwer East, far away from the crime scene. One may want to query how communities on the Gwer side, which had no business with the crisis got caught in the cross fire but that, is the danger of collective punishment. It causes collateral damage and does no one any good.
Efforts to restore peace to the area, so far, are commendable but going further, the federal government should as a matter of urgency, constitute a judicial commission of inquiry into the communal crisis and the involvement of the military in same, with a view to preventing a recurrence of the ugly incident.
While efforts are ongoing to apprehend the perpetrators of the gruesome act, there must also be compensation for families of the killed soldiers and those whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed. Already, there is a humanitarian crisis in the area that calls for urgent attention.
