Novabright: I read this on a friend's wall on Facebook and decided to share it here on NL



They were 35 pick up trucks in all – 35. The vehicles had
no number plates; therefore, there was no way on earth
you could identify the owners in the event of a road
mishap – even for the good of the occupants.

*Soldiers on patrol
In each of the trucks were at least eight fierce-looking,
heavily armed men. They brandished what someone called
General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs). Some of them
wore masks – what that could also mean is that if one of
them did anything untoward, no one would identify him.
And the men were dressed in black – black T-shirt, black
trousers, some in black masks; a few wearing face-caps.
The only form of commonality is that there was ‘DSS’
inscribed on the back of their T-shirts. This could be a
very good move; good if the men were heading to Sambisa
Forest to rescue the abducted girls of Chibok. But no!
They were not in the North-East, nor were they in Borno
State, Maiduguri or even Chibok.
They were in Oshogbo, the Osun State capital, on
Wednesday, July 30, 2014. Worse, still the men in black
shot in the air that Wednesday! Whatever that was
intended to achieve was not immediately understood.
Some issues need clearing here. Why would officers of the
state who are not in a war zone be in masks? Why would
officers of the state who are paid by tax payers drive in
unmarked cars? Why would officers of the state shoot
indiscriminately into the air like drunk Hamas or
Hezbollah fighters? Why? Why?? Why
The danger that is gradually creeping into the polity is yet
unknown. This is not about the All Progressive Congress,
APC, or about the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
It is about decorum, national security and good sense.
Because Nigeria is a sophisticated nation where criminals
easily ape security operatives, let us bring the danger
home.
Imagine you are driving late in the evening on Benin/Ore
Road, or Ilesha/Akure Road, or Enugu/Awka Road or
Kaduna/Abuja Road.
Then imagine you see a group of men, 10 in number,
wearing black T-shirts, with the DSS inscription on them,
gun-wielding, and stopping vehicles at will for a
supposedly stop-and-search operations. With the excuse
of keeping national security, who would dare challenge
this group of 10 men? Who would dare ask them for their
ID cards?
Who would dare want to know the purpose of their action?
To complicate matters, if these men were armed robbers,
how would anyone know?
Even if officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force, NPF,
were driving along the same road, their warped form of
comradeship or camaraderie would just be a hollering
sound of ‘ALL CORRECT SIR’, or ‘OFFICERS ON DUTY’, or
some other such slogans. Still imagine some Boko Haram
members dressed in black T-shirt and wielding guns in a
convoy invading any of
the presumably safe states of South-East, South-South
and South-West and unleashing terror. How would the
DSS be absolved? Add the angle of the masks! So, who do
we arrest? Who would carry out the arrests? Just imagine
men in black with the DSS inscription attempting to arrest
another group of men in black with the same DSS
inscription!
Why is this inquisition necessary? This call to attention is
necessary because the job of national security requires
decorum and good sense. Granted, the Department of
State Services, DSS, needs the support of all Nigerians to
succeed in keeping everyone safe. Granted, there should
be no interference in the activities of the men of the DSS.
Yes, granted, Nigerians should support and be seen to be
supporting all security measures being put in place for
their safety. However, when the selfsame Nigerians meant
to be protected become victims of psychological terror by
the institution they fund, there is need for introspection.
The stories are well known of how members of the
Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, which in
English translates to, “People Committed to the
Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad”, and
otherwise known as Boko Haram, invade villages and
towns wearing military uniforms, driving in a convoy of 10,
12 or 15 Hilux pick up trucks; and, thereafter, disappearing
into Sambisa Forest.
Now, if 35 pick up trucks can be sighted in Oshogbo, why
can’t the same number of trucks with the mean men be
deployed to Sambisa Forest?
That is a question for the DSS to answer. Perhaps his
attention has not been drawn to it, so by this very piece he
is being informed.
Ekpeyong Ita, the Director General of the DSS, is known to
be a man of peace. He is credited with reforming and
transforming the department. A knack operative in his
days, Ita has done more good to the DSS than most of his
predecessors. Unassuming, always wearing a calm look,
it is time for this gentleman operative to ensure that his
department and all he has worked for all these years are
not made a mockery of on account of the actions of some
overzealous men in black.
God forbid that day. But it is already happening in Borno
State, where some men wear military uniforms and kill
innocent Nigerians. The DSS should not open itself to the
collateral damage of Nigerians seeing it as an Enemy of
the State because of the conduct of a few, very few,
unscrupulous elements.
For President Goodluck Jonathn and his PDP, there is
nothing in the camp of the APC that can shake his return
next year as President and Commander-in-Chief. Yes, the
APC may still poke fun with its episodic flashes of
relevance in the polity. But with its refusal to wash itself
clean of a possible Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket till
date, it would require something of cataclysmic error on
the part of Mr. President to lose that election.
Therefore, allowing some officers of state to overheat
another part of the country, is unnecessary.
Osun State, which holds a governorship election on
Saturday, is not Sambisa Forest, where this show of force
is needed. Let the person the electorates want win in an
atmosphere free of the excesses of some servants of the
tax payers dressed in strange outfits.