jayokla: Yes, they are doing a great job protecting we civilians, but that doesn't mean they should 'vent their anger' on innocent civilians. I and some of my friends were beaten mercilessly by a soldier somewhere in Ondo State some months back in a bar ( A public place), our offence? one of us was snapping pictures and the flash 'affected' his eyes, he wasn't even dressed in any cloth that would make one think he's a soldier, next thing we heard was 'stop it', and we were like 'ah, ah, oga, why u con shout on us like that na, we no be pikin na'... in my quest to divert my other angry friends(who were still grumbling, as normal omo boy go do na) from his case, i started a completely different gist, and we forgot what had happened, few minutes later, a pick up with about 6 soldiers just rounded us up, inside the bar, and started slapping us, they later took us to their base and stripped us naked and he started beating us with heavy sticks, asked us to swim inside mud, he was doing all these while drinking Red Label and was smoking, heavily drunk, threatening us that he was going to kill us before dawn, that if our father was jonathan, he wouldn't be able to save us that night! he was commanding the other guys (apparently he was a superior officer) to subject us to different punishments...the hotel manager later came to plead on our behalf and he kept on saying 'ohhh, you for allow me kill these people naa'! I wish i can just meet someone today who can take up this case on my behalf because i can still locate the base they took us to. Sorry to bore you with this long epistle, bottomline is, Soldiers are doing a great job, but they tend to go to the extreme, most times!

My suggestion is that you disembark and deliver a resounding slap to the cheek of that cheeky soldier, but don't forget to ask him this question first - " Do you know who you are talking to ?"

Let me know how this procedure goes there.

me_for_you: d offence wasn't holding a phone but making call. If she intended to denote anything with the phone, she would be holding the fine in her hand. Just illiterate aboki soldiers venting out their anger on an innocent young fine girl

Hot Potato: Dear Nairalanders,

We've been held up for some minutes now, in a military checkpoint, reason being that a soldier confiscated the phone of a co-passenger cos she was answering a call.
Pls when did it become an offence for someone to answer a call at a military checkpoint?

lonelydora: Just obey the checkpoint rules whether it is lawful or not. U should try and beg the soldiers that u were ignorant of the rule, that u won't try it again. They have human sympathy more than the police.

Meanwhile where is 13volts??

Ekaka1:


@Jakumo, cowards like you only imagine things they wish they could do and never getting to do the things themselves

bb6xt:

Just like some bank security used to harass customers for using their phone in the bank. 5yrs ago when other banks will harass u 4 making calls GTBank was actually encouraging their customers to use their phone and had no problems. There is really no connection btw using ur phone at a bank or checkpoint with security, if I were planning a hit on a checkpoint wont I perfect my strategy b4 hand than start whispering on the phone for my co-passengers to hear when already at the checkpoint?

King Tonbra: The JTF check points solders in Bayelsa State are not like that,I am always with my phone when passing by check points and they don't bother me even when am using it right at their pressence.

lastpage:

These is what happens when at times, you saddle Eediots with work that involves a high level of INTELLIGENCE!

Its like saying the more you hit your child, the better the child will turn out in life! Its a farce, a very big lie!!!

If a "civilian" contravenes the law, there is a mechanism in place for dealing with such person, under the law: You arrest the civilian, hand him/her over to the Police who in-turn should charge the person to court, before a competent judge, under relevant section of the law contravened.

I am not a Lawyer but let me ask: Which section of the law abolishes the use of a cellphone, close or at a Military checkpoint?
'Cos l hear all of ya saying "it an offence, ..its a law,...its an order, ...its a rule, ....."

While common sense may dictate that in areas or location where security is an issue, one should be careful with such practice,
whatever is NOT PROHIBITED BY/IN LAW, is NOT AN OFFENCE!.

It wont be out of place "if" they broadcast it on radio and sensitive the populace using posters that they should not use their phone near a check-point for 1, 2, 3, reasons. That is how "rulers" with a small bit of sense do, not just assume that everyone must live in fear of them.

There is no law that allows a Soldier to manhandle and pummel a Civilian, especially in the presence of his wife and children.
It is very animalistic and savage!
You would wonder, some years down the line, if children traumatized by such experience turn out to be very hateful and vindictive to the society in general.

Do you think as a Father, if that man has access to a weapon he would think twice before shooting soldiers, ...any soldier for that matter?
All these "show of force" to unarmed civilians is NOT NECESSARY, any Soldier worth his salt who wants to prove macho, should do so to an ARMED PERSON....... Boko Haram will be better....... but we all know how they duck their tails between their legs and shiver when they hear "Boko-wetin"

With "animals" like that on the rampage, NIGERIA IS A FAILED STATE, by all definition.

Lastpage!

BTW: The ARMY or "UNIFORMED PERSON" .... RESPECTING THE CIVILIAN, IS A BIGGER AND BETTER SIGN OF CIVILIZATION!

@Reni:
It is an offense to use mobile phone when talking to a security officer. When u are entering the US, as you approach the border control, you are advised to turn your phones off. An elder man once told me he got kicked out becuase he was trying to reach his driver at the airport in the US.

Also, I visited a family member at one of the US Army Base (FORT), and as we approached the gate, my Cousin (A senior US Army Officer) abruptly end his call because he did not want to breach security. In fact in his words, 'I dont want these people to get mad at me'. The funny thing is that the people he was referring to were soldiers, while he is a commisioned officer, i.e He was their Senior in Rank but respected them.

So its not only in Nigeria, I can attest that you dont make calls around Military Check Points both in the US and Nigeria.

@Reni:


My brother, I pray you dont go through what Our Soldiers go through to become soldiers and officers. They are not power drunk, they are trained to be tough, to kill to protect Our borders. Lets look at the trauma of killing, its psychological. No human being will feel better after taking ones life. It will be hard for such person to re-integrate into a Civil Society.

My point being that every profession has it struggles, and no one is a saint. I can bet you have been power drunk a couple of times at your office or school. With your response I cannot imagine you being a "Gentleman Officer", you probably may do worse in the name of 'defending' the truth.

Instead of ranting and passing insults over to someone else , come up with ideas on how to curb and manage such situations hoping the Power of nairaland will drive the message to the Governing Council of our Military Force.

For example, Can we advocate all our soldiers have Psychological Therapy to help deal with trauma, anger and any other psychological problems they may be experiencing. Hopefully, this will help reduce the amount of rage our soldiers exhibit in Public.

Jakumo: My suggestion is that you disembark and deliver a resounding slap to the cheek of that cheeky soldier, but don't forget to ask him this question first - " Do you know who you are talking to ?"

Let me know how this procedure goes there. Thank you.

Jakumo:

Obviously sir you did not catch on that I was making a JOKE with my suggestion that an UN-armed CIVILIAN should try and commit an act of violence against an ARMED soldier. My intent was to point out the foolhardy absurdity of even questioning ANYTHING an armed man would order one to do, in ANY context.

All the same, if it pleases you to imagine that anyone could seriously suggest confronting an armed soldier at a checkpoint, by all means indulge yourself ha ha.

Mzsolex: This ones are even better, Us army will rough handle you, pin ur head to the ground with their kneel or 5guys can point a gun @ you and tell u they'll shoot and trust me they will... pls respect this guys, it's their job obey their order when neccessary. I remembered a tym this guys were doing a kinda rally and me feeling funky brought out my phone filming, hell, dat was the first tym a gun was pointed right at me threatning he'll shoot me, I was totally confused almost damaged the phone dat day.

jayokla: Yes, they are doing a great job protecting we civilians, but that doesn't mean they should 'vent their anger' on innocent civilians. I and some of my friends were beaten mercilessly by a soldier somewhere in Ondo State some months back in a bar ( A public place), our offence? one of us was snapping pictures and the flash 'affected' his eyes, he wasn't even dressed in any cloth that would make one think he's a soldier, next thing we heard was 'stop it', and we were like 'ah, ah, oga, why u con shout on us like that na, we no be pikin na'... in my quest to divert my other angry friends(who were still grumbling, as normal omo boy go do na) from his case, i started a completely different gist, and we forgot what had happened, few minutes later, a pick up with about 6 soldiers just rounded us up, inside the bar, and started slapping us, they later took us to their base and stripped us naked and he started beating us with heavy sticks, asked us to swim inside mud, he was doing all these while drinking Red Label and was smoking, heavily drunk, threatening us that he was going to kill us before dawn, that if our father was jonathan, he wouldn't be able to save us that night! he was commanding the other guys (apparently he was a superior officer) to subject us to different punishments...the hotel manager later came to plead on our behalf and he kept on saying 'ohhh, you for allow me kill these people naa'! I wish i can just meet someone today who can take up this case on my behalf because i can still locate the base they took us to. Sorry to bore you with this long epistle, bottomline is, Soldiers are doing a great job, but they tend to go to the extreme, most times!

jayokla: Yes, they are doing a great job protecting we civilians, but that doesn't mean they should 'vent their anger' on innocent civilians. I and some of my friends were beaten mercilessly by a soldier somewhere in Ondo State some months back in a bar ( A public place), our offence? one of us was snapping pictures and the flash 'affected' his eyes, he wasn't even dressed in any cloth that would make one think he's a soldier, next thing we heard was 'stop it', and we were like 'ah, ah, oga, why u con shout on us like that na, we no be pikin na'... in my quest to divert my other angry friends(who were still grumbling, as normal omo boy go do na) from his case, i started a completely different gist, and we forgot what had happened, few minutes later, a pick up with about 6 soldiers just rounded us up, inside the bar, and started slapping us, they later took us to their base and stripped us naked and he started beating us with heavy sticks, asked us to swim inside mud, he was doing all these while drinking Red Label and was smoking, heavily drunk, threatening us that he was going to kill us before dawn, that if our father was jonathan, he wouldn't be able to save us that night! he was commanding the other guys (apparently he was a superior officer) to subject us to different punishments...the hotel manager later came to plead on our behalf and he kept on saying 'ohhh, you for allow me kill these people naa'! I wish i can just meet someone today who can take up this case on my behalf because i can still locate the base they took us to. Sorry to bore you with this long epistle, bottomline is, Soldiers are doing a great job, but they tend to go to the extreme, most times!

Dahomey Amazon: What happened to putting up a sign that says do not use your phone at check points. Imagine Nigerians giving these fools an excuse to threat them like animals. Is that how other militaries behave?

kl_bakare: i remember ur story. A friend of mine, a student of lautech was actually with u guys dat day.i remember him posing to skul with one leg and a bent shoulder.take heart ehnn sowie.

kokoA: One secret of pulling through these guys is hailing.. Once you are stopped, always start your conversation with these magic words "officer weldon o.. Kai! Dis una work no easy o". It's always working for me sha o. I'd end up spending few minutes gisting and laughing with them and dats all . When dey ask for "kola" I'd always form "student" for dem.. Lol. They'd be like "oya oya carry your papa motor dey go jare.. Yeye"

kl_bakare:
yeah m surprised.i ve never heard of this kind of thing before.if there were signs like ''MILITARY CHECKPOINT AHEAD SWITCH OFF YOUR PHONES'' at least all these wud nt be happening.i dont knw why dis country is always upside down.