The fear of coup plot that would truncate the democratic in the country has been rife since Tukur Burutai, leutenant general and Chief of Army Staff, raised the alarm that some politicians were holding secret meetings with military personnel. But the military authorities have now said there is no coup plot or any plan whatsoever to derail the present democratic governance.
The military thus expressed its unalloyed loyalty to the constitution and President Muhammadu Buhari as the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces. “The Armed Forces would not derail from protecting the nation’s democracy and would completely surbordinate themselves to civil rule, the military,” said John Enenche, a major general and director of Defence Information at the Defence Headquarters. He explained that the clarification became necessary following the comments credited to Buratai and the reactions the comment generated across the country and at the international level.
“What I am telling you on behalf of the Armed Forces of Nigeria is that nobody should be afraid of any coup. The Armed Forces is totally loyal to the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, and in complete subordination to civil authority. At all levels of commands, we are out there, including our troops, and we will remain focussed and conscious about the oath of allegiance that we have taken and guided by the constitution of this country. So, that is my remark to you, to build on that and then reassure the general public that there is nothing like coup; nothing like that would ever be supported or encouraged,” said Enenche.
He added that, “If there is a sign of anything like that, then there are instances and guiding rules and regulations and procedures, which we normally follow, and we want to assure Nigerians that we are not in a different world, on our own. We know what is happenning all over the whole world, our armed forces , and crop of officers and men we have are modern. We are in tune with the best international practice of governance and that is democracy, democracy, democracy.”
Enenche said the statement credited to the Army chief about relationships between some civilians and army personnel was routine, to ensure conformity with ethics of the military in all ramifications. “Professionally, it is a command responsibility to caution officers and men on routine basis to conform to the ethics of the military in all ramifications, which includes interactions and exchange of visits, among others. This command responsibility is exercised right from the highest echelon, such as the office of the Service Chiefs down to the lowest levels of command. Hence, the caution from the Army in this case. Secondly, administratively, officers and men are regularly cautioned to exercise command and control by Appropriate Superior Authorities through commanders at various levels. This is to prevent members of the armed forces from derailing from their core focus of total dedication to their oath of allegiance. Thus, it is a usual practice in military administration,” Enenche explained further.