BY ABDULSALAM MUHAMMAD

KANO—Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, Thursday, urged the new Commandant of the  3 Motorised Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Kano, Brigadier- General Iliyasu  Abba, to check the excesses of the Joint Military Task Force, JMTF, deployed to Kano  in the wake of January 20 bombing of the city by the Boko Haram adherents.

Bayero, who received the new Commandant in his palace, said reports reaching him from members of the public indicated that the JMTF  was involved in ‘’rights violation,’’ especially at military checkpoints  across the state.

The emir added that one of his senior counsellors was recently rough- handled at a checkpoint by the military in spite of his evidential traditional regalia, pointing out that such ‘’arbitrary violation of rights of suspected offenders without recourse to due process negate the objectives of their deployment.

“My office has been inundated with a catalogue of complaints from members of the public over the way your men deployed to the streets in the wake of January 20  bombing has been executing their duties.

“Of particular interest is the report of rights’ violation by men at military checkpoints and I want to believe that such men are not the final authority in the line of dispensing justice and I do think they have the right to apply corporal punishment on any civilian.”

“We recognize your role in the maintenance of peace and stability of the nation, and therefore enjoin the general public to offer their support to achieve the cardinal objectives.

“Soldiers, like most other security agents are human and they need our total support while executing the special role bestowed on them statutorily in the overall benefit of all, and I hope such will be extended to them while the mission lasts”, Bayero added.

Earlier, Brig.-General  Abba had stated that “this is a trial period for the country and we need to cooperation and support of all to surmount the problem”

He also said that the security challenges in the state had diminished the status of Kano as commercial nerve centre in the sub-Saharan Africa, adding that it was the duty of the Military to ensure the city enjoyed peace again.

Posted by admin on Mar 8 2012. Filed under Armed Forces, Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry