With the March 3 Mile12 riot still fresh in the mind, the government has taken steps to ease tension and prevent further violent outbreaks. Unfortunately, it seems the soldiers attached by the government have taken matters to the extreme, terrorizing residents.
A curfew was put in place in the area from 7pm to 7am as a result of the crisis, where Hausa and Yoruba people around the Mile12 area clashed leading to many casualties.
Over 17 houses and 25 cars were also burnt in the process
The soldiers, tasked with keeping Mile12 safe however seem to be making the residents feel anything but safe. By 6pm every day, residents returning from work find themselves being harassed by the military men.
Some of the residents have reported that they were being forced to sit on the road littered with shattered bottles, or to ‘frog jump,’ or to sing for at least 30 minutes before they were allowed to go home.
A nurse, returning from work at about 6pm claims she was ordered to sit among a group of people on the road, who were also returning from work.
She said, “We were asked to sit on the road littered with broken bottles. They said we should be singing songs, both Christian and Islamic songs. As we were doing that, they commanded us to hold ourselves by the waist. A married man held my waist. I could not resist. I also held a man’s waist in front of me.
“We did that for 45 minutes, just 15 minutes before the curfew began. They shouted at us to run after the exercise. To another group, they commanded them to ‘frog jump’ for the whole time. Different people were doing different humiliating things. These soldiers’ excesses are too much. They should just search us and let us go.”
Another person complained that when he got to the checkpoint on Wednesday around 6.30pm, he saw people forced to kneel on the road.
“The curfew starts 7pm, but the soldiers have made it 6pm. But what I could not understand is why they are torturing people. I was driving, so they just searched my car and let me go. But I was angry when I saw men in suit sitting on the road. What sort of rubbish is that?” he asked.
The bank employee, however, added that on Thursday when he got to the checkpoint around 11pm due to the nature of his work, he had to bribe the soldiers with N5,000 before he was allowed to go.
Yet another resident said:
“They make people like us to sweep the road for 30 minutes every morning before they let us go,” he said.
To cap it all off, residents are alleging the soldiers of not extending ‘the practice’ to the Hausa neighbourhood of the area. They claim that the Hausa residents at Mile 12 are still being allowed to sell their goods and walk in the street all at times when others are being subjected to all sorts.
“The soldiers are discriminatory in this regard” said a resident. “I want to plead with Governor Ambode to look into this matter. It is what we have been passing through since last week. Their excesses are getting too much.”
The Mile12 area just might be experiencing terror of another sort and it is quite sad indeed.