From ALOYSIUS ATTAH, Onitsha
Since November 27, 2016, when the Nigerian Army launched the Exercise Python Dance in the South East, a military exercise that will last till December 27, 2016, there have been mixed reactions across the country and beyond the shores over the aim and intent of the operation.
The increased presence of soldiers at different checkpoints across Igbo land and particularly the blocking of the Niger Bridgehead with drums painted in military colours, manned by stern looking armed soldiers, heightened fears and apprehension that the military came as an ‘army of occupation’ to conquer Igbo land.
The checkpoints mounted at the Asaba and Onitsha ends of the bridge also contributed to high traffic gridlock thereby worsening the already regular feature of standstill vehicular traffic within the bridge area, a daily nightmare of those residing in Asaba who work or trade in Anambra.
First to raise alarm about the army operation were the pro-Biafra groups, Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB and the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.
The groups alleged that the army’s Exercise Python Dance was targeted at their members whom they said the army has not hidden its intention to wipe out going by the plethora of killings of their members.
The army on their part had to issue a public statement clarifying that the military exercise was not targeted at the pro-Biafra groups or any individual.
In the statement signed by Col. Sagir Musa, Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 82 Division Enugu, the army said: “For emphasis and clarity, Exercise Python Dance is not targeted at MASSOB, IPOB or any individual or group. It is only a training exercise that is designed to, where necessary, dovetail into real-time activities such as anti-kidnapping drills, patrols, raids, cordon-and-search, checkpoints, roadblocks and show of force. This is with the aim of checkmating anticipated rising wave of crimes usually prevalent during the Yuletide period.
“Recall that in line with the constitutional mandate of the Nigerian Army to carry out exercises in aid of civil authorities, the Chief of Army Staff directed on the conduct of Command Post and Field Training Exercises as a way of enhancing troops preparedness and agility across the spectrum of contemporary security challenges in various regions of Nigeria.
The statement also noted that similar special military exercises had been mounted in the northern part of the country and the Niger Delta region, to ensure the security of lives and property.
Musa explained that the exercise in the Southeast would run until December 27, 2016, to checkmate the prevalent security issues such as armed robbery, banditry, kidnapping, herdsmen-farmers clashes, communal clashes and violent secessionist attacks among other security threats in the region.
Army reviews operations
Despite the assurances given in the public statement, there were still agitations coming from civil society organizations, Igbo groups and associations about the motives of the military and the continued blockade of the Niger Bridge.
This prompted the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa and the Commander, 302 Artillery Regiment, Col. Isa Abdullahi to visit the various army checkpoints within Anambra and the Niger Bridge Head/Asaba Delta State end with some journalists on Sunday, December 3, 2016. During the tour, Col Sagir reiterated the earlier statement that the presence of soldiers near the bridge is in the interest of the people of the South East. After the interaction with the media, it was noticed that the roadblocks were reduced later that Sunday evening.
The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai also visited Anambra on Tuesday, December 6, 2016 and gave assurances that the army will respect the people’s human rights but would as well not fail to act when provoked unnecessarily.
Traffic jam still persists as Ndigbo annual mass returns gathers momentum
When Sunday Sun reporter visited the Bridgehead last Thursday in the morning hours, there was still stretch of vehicles held up in traffic on top of the bridge and spilling over to the Asaba end. While the Onitsha end was free, those coming into Onitsha from the Asaba end were in long queue that stretched to Oko junction in Delta State.
A journalist residing in Asaba but practices in Anambra State had this to say over the situation: “The situation is complicated because different security agencies contribute to the gridlock instead of making it flow. From Asaba, you see the regular policemen on roadblock, but getting to toll gate, you see the operatives of the Federal Road Safety Corps, then you see SARS operatives and other mobile policemen before you now get to the army by the side of the bridge. All these people contribute to the traffic snarl and if it continues like this, there is the tendency that some people may spend days on the bridge while returning home for Christmas from Abuja, Lagos and other parts of the country. We are talking of the fact that the old bridge is already overburdened and narrow, but the security agents are constricting it the more. I think the best option is to remove all forms of road blocks within that axis and let the security agents allow people to enjoy their Christmas while they do surveillance only.”
The Sunday Sun reporter encountered Mr. Anthony Uwakwe who was stuck in traffic with his family members coming from Lagos on their way to Obowo in Imo State. With frustration already written on his face, he told the reporter that he decided to take his family to the village now before the mad rush that normally occurs from 23rd December till after Christmas.
“I’ve heard much about Exercise Python Dance and what is happening at the Niger Bridge Head and I said I must take the step now and take my family home. No python can stop us from setting our foot on our homeland this Christmas. Even Buhari and economic recession cannot deter us. I promised my parents that my children will be visiting home at least once in a year and we have toiled from January to December too. You can see that the children are becoming restless owing to the traffic, but I believe that we shall cross over to the Onitsha end and continue our journey till we reach home safely,” he said.
But another respondent, Chijioke Umeasiegbu, an employee of a transport company at the Asaba end while speaking to the reporter exonerated the security agents for the traffic snarl. He said the shuttle buses that ply Asaba-Onitsha route should be blamed for the gridlock since they jump the lane and drive carelessly, thereby distorting the flow of traffic. He said the security agents are even the ones instilling fear into some of the shuttle bus drivers with their presence because if the uniformed men will leave the scene completely, anarchy will prevail in the area.