Insecurity in army barracks

Sir: I wish to bring to the notice of the authority and the whole world what obtains in the Army Cantonment, Ojo, Lagos State in terms of security of lives and property.

From time immemorial, the security of lives and property of all inhabitants of any barracks (be it Police or Army) is often placed in the able soldiers or policemen as the case may be, who comprehensively ensure that the barracks community remains a dreaded zone to hoodlums and people of shady characters. However, events of recent times have made nonsense of this.

These days, it is common to hear and experience cases of abduction, kidnapping, burglary, raping, stealing and robbery in the Ojo cantonment. What makes the occurrence more worrisome is not the trend per se but the impunity with which these dastardly acts are perpetrated. Culprits are hardly apprehended and even when they are, the cases are handled with levity. This begins to make one wonder if these criminals have some people in the “office” providing cover for them.

In the course of this, many barracks dwellers have lost their children, valuable property and assets as well as decent rest at night. People now sleep with their eyes open. It is so frustrating that the once revered, respected and dreaded barracks is now a den of criminals.

What principally triggered my curiosity is the absurdity in the security arrangement put in place to counter this criminal invasion. Where exactly lies the hope when unarmed civilians are forced (not compelled) to organise themselves into vigilante groups for night security patrols in place of soldiers right there in the barracks?

These men who are mainly civilians, who find themselves as residents in the barracks either by being relations to military personnel or by virtue of where they serve are being coerced into this absurdity and they are threatened with ejection if they dare refuse.

Obviously, some forces who constitute themselves into coordinators of this unpopular security arrangement are doing so to gain favour or recognition from the cantonment commandant who is believed to know his job well and would not want to be part of this porosity. This is an arrangement deadly enough to endanger the lives of these poor civilians who are neither trained for security jobs nor possess any arm whatsoever to do a reprisal against the armed robbers and hoodlums or defend themselves in the face of danger during these security patrols.

Dada Okunnu,
Cantonment, Ojo,
Lagos.