The former commander in chief issued this warning in a statement signed by his aide, Reno Omokri, on Tuesday, September 19, 2017.
In the Facebook post, the former leader of the country warned that the activities of the army in combating members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is unnecessary as it is out of their primary designation.
Jonathan
made it clear that only the Nigeria Police Force is trained to fight
crime internally while the army should be more concerned with facing the
nation's external enemies.
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President Muhammadu Buhari (Twitter/@BashirAhmaad)
The
former president warned that the continued use of the military for
domestic crime-fighting will only serve to intimidate people.
The statement read, "We
want to advise the Buhari administration, which has announced plans to
extend the military show of force to the Southsouth and the Southwest
through Operation Crocodile Smile, to tread with caution.
"Nigeria
is no longer under military rule. In a democracy, you separate the
military from the police. The military is not meant to fight criminality
within a nation because they are trained to fight a nation's external
enemies.
"It is the police that are trained to fight crime internally.
"When
the military starts doing the job of the police and starts fighting or
doing what they call a 'show of force', the effect will not be to reduce
crime. The effect will be to intimidate people."
The primary focus of the former president's statement was on Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed,
who recently accused the opposition of sponsoring IPOB and claimed the
group's activities were non-existent during Jonathan's tenure.
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Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed (Punch)
The statement slammed the minister's unguarded insinuations, pointing out that members of the ruling All Progressives' Congress (APC), most notably Senate President Bukola Saraki, have also condemned the government's handling of the group.
It read, "The
insinuations in the press conference given by Minister of Information,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday the 17th of September 2017, accusing the
opposition of sponsoring the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and the
fact that he mentioned that Nnamdi Kanu preached Nigerian unity during
the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan is another
clear indication that the present administration has not left propaganda
mode for proper agenda mode two and a half year into their tenure.
"If
the government in which Lai Mohammed serves, knows which opposition
members are sponsoring IPOB, then they should identify them, arrest them
and then prosecute them.
"Ever
since Lai Mohammed made his ill advised statement, a principal member of
the All Progressive Congress government and the Senate President,
Senator Bukola Saraki, has come out to say that the actions in the
Southeast are troubling and some of it are unconstitutional. Is he also
sponsoring IPOB too?
"It is our
suspicion that Lai Mohammed is talking from history seeing as he
criticized the Jonathan government for banning Boko Haram in a statement
he released on June 10, 2013, even though the Jonathan government had
gone through due process before proscribing that murderous sect.
"Perhaps Lai Mohammed thinks everybody is like him and those he represents.
"Let
me say again to Lai Mohammed, the time for propaganda is gone. The time
for blaming Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for all the unfulfilled promises of
the APC government is over. Nigerians are no longer buying it."
The
statement also praised the southeast governors for their handling of
the recent crisis involving the military and members of IPOB.
It read, "I
also commend the governors of the Southeast for cooperating with the
military and in the process saving lives and property. It is a noble act
that should not be ignored."
Due to a week of violent clashes between IPOB members and the Nigerian Army in Abia state, the separatist group was officially branded a "militant terrorist organisation" in a statement by Director, Defence Information (DDI), Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, on Friday, September 15.
After an emergency meeting in Enugu, the South East Governors' Forum announced the proscription of activities of the group later on Friday.
Chairman of the forum, Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi requested the group and other such groups to articulate their grievances and send to the forum.
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