Group to Wike: Tell Nigerians what you know about alleged plot against Buhari

A human rights group, Coalition for Truth and Justice, CTJ, has replied the statement credited to the Rivers state Governor, Nyesom Wike saying the governor should tell Nigerians what he knew about an alleged coup being plotted by some power jobbers against the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.

A statement issued by the group through its National Coordinator, Barrister Charles Timothy, said Wike’s reaction was not necessary as it does not portray an understanding of the essence of what Buratai meant.

Recall that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tikur Buratai had raised an alarm, saying some politicians were meeting with some soldiers for some political reasons not healthy to the country’s democracy and unity. The army chief had warned his troops to desist from being enmeshed in politics or risk sever punishments. He had also, rather, urged his troops to better resign from the military and take up full politics if that is where their interest lies.

But reacting to Buratai’s statement, the Rivers state Governor had asked the army boss to stop allocating soldiers to politicians if he didn’t want his troops hobnobbing with politicians.

According to him, “Who are those approving battalions of soldiers to politicians? If they don’t want soldiers to follow politicians, they should stop giving soldiers to politicians.”

But reacting to Wike’s comment, ‎Barrister  Timothy said the statement is heavily pregnant with meaning.

According to him, “What Buratai is saying involves the orientation, training and the discipline of soldiers to respect constituted authority and would have been apt at any given time in the current democratic journey.

“Trying to give it a spin that denotes the buildup of a consequence due to administrative blunder on the part of the military as Wike has done  is not only mischievous but condemnable.

“Political leaders should be careful how they try to drag institutions of government especially ones concerned with the security of the nation  into their  personal grievances.

Everybody knows that the Nigeria army does not send soldiers to guard politicians as inferred by Wike.

“Soldiers are usually drafted where there is a threat to peace and the possibly that the magnitude might be of a proportion more than what the police can handle. ‎

“If that is the case then his anger is misplaced as every tight thinking person expects the Nigeria Army to always defend and protect the territorial integrity of the country both internally and externally as well as disarm groups who have taken up arms again with the sole purpose of causing mayhem to serve a parochial interests.

“Everybody is aware that the rerun elections in Rivers would have been more bloody if not for the presence of the military and this is something Governor Wike should appreciate if he has the interest  of the people at heart.

“But if he insists to know better than Buratai, he  should step forward to tell Nigerians all that he knows about the purported coup to sack the civilian regime which is in place in the country.

“Wike should move his patriotism an inch forward to reveal to Nigerians all that his men and friends like those who helped him to plot the rigging of the elections in Rivers had planned before they were exposed by the Nigerian Army,” the group said.

CTJ, also vowed to reject every attempt by anybody to truncate the nation’s democracy just to instigate confusion and return to power through the back door those that Nigerians have overwhelmingly rejected.

 

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