The Nigerian state seems to be descending inexorably into anarchy. Its leadership will therefore need to act fast to pull it back from the precipice by being deliberate and intentional about fostering law and order and jettisoning policy measures that tend to exacerbate anguish and lawlessness. The recent invasion of the University of Benin, Edo State, by soldiers, ostensibly to collect cash from the Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) on the campus, is most unfortunate. The soldiers’ attempt to jump a queue which was reportedly resisted by the students and which culminated in the brutalisation of some students by the soldiers and the beating up of a soldier by the students was a string of lawlessness which should not have had a place amongst civilised people.

Why would soldiers who belong to a regimented force, a supposed epitome of discipline and orderliness, resort to jumping a queue and unleashing violence on those who dared to protest against their lawless act? And even at the height of provocation, why would university students, who ought to know better, assault and batter a soldier, a veritable symbol of the country’s external defence? Why would the soldiers mobilise at night to launch a reprisal on the students? The answers to these questions border on indiscipline, trust deficit and the veritable desperation of everyone to have access to scarce new naira notes. Neither party trusts the system enough to do justice, hence both took the law into their own hands. The students did not trust the law to punish the soldier who jumped the queue. The soldiers did not have confidence in the system to sanction the students who dared to lay their hands on a soldier. Also, both parties wanted the new naira notes which were obviously in short supply. And so everyone resorted to self-help, as it were.

In all probability, it was the patently avoidable challenge of scarcity of naira notes foisted on Nigerians by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that caused the soldiers to go to the university campus in search of cash. If they had had easy access to cash in their banks or at the other ATM points within their vicinities, the need would not have arisen for them to invade the University of Benin, let alone jumping the queue. And if the queue at the ATM point was not unusually long because of the scarcity of new naira notes, perhaps the soldiers would not have jumped the queue and the commotion and brutality that ensued would have been averted. We are by no means justifying disorderliness or rationalising the gross indiscretions of the soldiers and the students; we are simply trying to underscore the fact that government policies if not properly thought through or poorly implemented could engender anguish and cause people to begin to resort to precipitate and lawless actions.

To be sure, we do not think soldiers should invade a university to brutalise defenceless students. It is unconscionable of the students, too, to have beaten up a soldier. That was recklessness and disrespect for one of the state’s prime institutions. Often, students erroneously believe that they are insulated from the law that forbids mob action or any law at all once they are on their campuses or anywhere else so long as they are acting in unison. And because they often get away with breaches of the law, they think they are untouchable. This is wrong. Men in uniform, too, always feel like they are above everyone else, or why would soldiers have jumped a queue and pounced on protesting students? Soldiers are supposed to be a repository of discipline and this should be manifest in their following rules and order at every point. There can be no justification for jumping a queue at any public facility.

Truth be told, there are so many lawless individuals and organisations whose activities and behaviours have to be brought within the ambit of the law. In addition, we urge that official policies should not be crafted or implemented in such a way as to generate anxiety and pain, thereby awakening people’s latent predilection for lawlessness, including self-help. The most dangerous dimension to the entire episode was the late-night invasion of the university by the soldiers on a revenge mission. It was the height of indiscipline. The reprisal launched on the students is much more damaging to the standing of the army because the soldiers’ action at that point was premeditated. And to know that soldiers of the Nigerian Army could arrive at such a poor decision and action under civil rule is really disturbing. The incident should be investigated by the authorities with a readiness to apportion appropriate punishment for those responsible for the unjustifiable act.

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