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22.09.2024 Explainer Army Brigadier Order of Navy’s Abbas Haruna’s 6-Year-Long Detention Violates Forces Act

Published 22nd Sep, 2024

By Abimbola Abatta

Abbas Haruna, a Naval rating, has been locked up for six years on a senior army officer’s order despite the Armed Forces Act (2004) limiting punishment for insubordination to two years imprisonment.

The Act also mandates the erring soldier be tried by court-martial before punishment.

A video clip showing Haruna being forcefully disarmed as he resisted arrest years ago emerged on X on Thursday.

Zagazola Makama, a security analyst and counter-insurgency expert, posted the 45-second video along with the caption:

VIDEO emerges(sic) how the Navy Personnel, Seaman Abbas, resisted arrest, cocked his rifle which accidentally fired. His wife cried out for her husband’s immediate release from long detention. But there is more to the story than the returning from prayers story.

As seen in the clip, an officer attempts to seize a gun from Haruna. The first officer is then joined by another officer as Haruna struggles to retain his gun.

The clip captures voices shouting, “Abbas! Abbas” who is seen moving away from his initial spot. Haruna is heard saying “Who are you?” over and over with the gun still in his hand.

Amid the ensuing chaos with officers moving to probably calm the situation, multiple shots are fired but this part of the footage is blurry, making it difficult to ascertain who fired the shots.

READ ALSO: Nigerian Law Criminalises Civilians Wearing Military Camouflage Except…

This video surfaced online days after the House of Representatives Committee on Navy and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) promised to probe Haruna’s detention on the order of a senior officer without trial.

Checks by FIJ reveal that Haruna’s detention headlined the news days after Hussaina Iliyasu, his wife, shared her plight on Berekete, a radio and television programme focused on human rights protection.

Iliyasu claimed that her husband’s woes began in 2018 during a special operation in Taraba State, where he served under the command of Brigadier MS Adamu. She learnt that an incident occurred on the parade ground after her husband went for prayers.

According to Haruna’s wife, Brigadier Adamu got to the parade ground to count the officers and noticed that her husband was missing. When asked about his whereabouts upon his return, Haruna explained that he went for prayers.

According to Haruna’s wife, this was when Adamu ordered her husband to be disarmed, arrested and detained. However, he struggled with those who had come to carry out this order, as seen in the viral footage on Thursday.

“But Brigadier MS Adamu is lying against my husband that the shot was an attempt to murder him,” Haruna’s wife said.

Amid the outrage trailing Haruna’s prolonged detention, the footage linked to how he resisted arrest has attracted mixed reactions from X users.

While some questioned the legitimacy of disarming an officer on duty, and the manner in which Haruna was disarmed, others thought otherwise.

WHAT DOES THE MILITARY ACT SAY?

While the Armed Forces Act (2004) does not explicitly outline procedures for disarming soldiers who resist arrest or how to disarm an officer on duty, it addresses related issues in various sections.

Section 86 says “A person subject to service law under this Act who, being concerned in any quarrel or disorder, refuses to obey an officer who orders him into arrest, or strikes or otherwise uses violence or offers violence to the officer, is guilty of an offence under this section whether or not the officer is his superior.

“(2) A person subject to service law under this Act who strikes or otherwise uses violence or offers violence to a person whose duty it is to apprehend him or in whose custody he is, is guilty of an offence under this section.”

Upon conviction by court-martial, the officer guilty of the above may be imprisoned for a maximum of two years or subjected to any lesser punishment prescribed by the Act.

Section 86 of the Act.
Section 86 of the Act.

Section 121 also makes provision for the arrest of any officer alleged to have committed an offence under the same Act.

Section 121 of the Act.
Section 121 of the Act.

The same section states that “A person authorised to effect arrest under this part of this Act may use such force as is reasonably necessary for that purpose”. Simply put, the Act allows the use of a reasonable amount of force to arrest an officer.

IF AN OFFICER POSES A THREAT…

FIJ also spoke with two military officers (they wish to be unnamed) who mentioned that there was no right or wrong way to disarm an officer on duty.

One of them revealed that based on his experience, the only reason a soldier could be forcefully disarmed is when they pose a threat “by threatening to fire or pointing their rifle towards a friendly force”.

“Other reasons include drunkenness or intoxication but generally when it has to do with his safety and that of the friendly forces. Take for instance, we had a soldier who shot himself one time on duty and died on the spot,” he explained.

“After the incident, the Commanding Officer (CO) sent a signal that all soldiers who have had previous cases of drunkenness and addiction should be disarmed and withdrawn from the field pending when they are stable enough to handle weapons.”

Regarding the viral video, he said that he had no idea of what transpired, as the available clip did not give enough details to deduce what prompted the order. But he said, “MS Adamu is not that officer to mess around with”.

“That operation seemed like a joint operation. Those in black trying to protect the soldier were his naval colleagues and the ones that came to disarm were army soldiers and MS Adamu is an army officer. In the Navy, they follow the books more than the Army. That’s all I can say and it is based on my experience. Those who know the law should know better,” he added.

When asked to explain the required procedure for disarming an officer, he said, “I can’t say I know the actual process because a lot of us don’t know what the books directed. Unaware or forceful disarming can be done when that officer poses a threat to his colleagues. The military police can disarm you when you are placed on arrest. You will be asked to submit your weapon before the arrest. My problem with this case was the firing, which was an offence and I believe that was where he (Haruna) lost the case.”

READ ALSO: For 9 Years, Military Has Failed to Catch Bello Turji Despite Killing His Associates

The second military source stated that the method applied when disarming an officer was contingent upon the officer’s behaviour.

“Some people are saying it is right. Some are saying it is wrong, but the thing is the method applied depends on how an officer behaves,” he disclosed.

In response to his thoughts about the video, he said, “It is not wrong, and it is not right. The video is incomplete. Nobody knows what he had said before they started struggling for that rifle. Nobody knows what had happened.

“We just saw a part of the video, which is not enough to make a substantial conclusion. You can’t even hear what the officer was telling the soldier and vice versa. So, whether it is wrong or right, it depends on how the whole thing started.”

2 replies on “Army Brigadier Order of Navy’s Abbas Haruna’s 6-Year-Long Detention Violates Forces Act”

This story reveals the primitive and crude highhandedness of the military industrial complex especially from senior Military officers who are supposed to be fathers to the rank and file. It pains me when l see people misuse powers. The victim was not given any chance to air his opinions. Two, he came from the naval background and you sent the military(Army) to arrest him from another background. Where was the ‘Naval Police’? Where those who came to arrest him from the ‘military police’ which deals with only the ‘Army’? The naval rating was right not to succumb to undue arrest over a crime he did not commit. The Brigadier misused and misapplied his powers. I, not being a Lawyer can defend this Naval Rating. Firstly, he is a human being and should be treated with dignity. The Brigadier should go to Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto and confront Turji and his gang of bandits. There’s enough to fight against in this country called Nigeria.
BJ wrote this short piece from Abuja.

The military is a very regulated and regimented organisation. Refusing to be disarmed upon the assumed order of a superior officer is an offence. Discharging your firearm under same conditions is also a major offence. So I believe he may have been found guilty in a court martial but it remains to be clear how many charges were laid against him and if when found guilty, they penalties are to run concurrently or consecutively. Also seems the wife omitted to state his discharging him rifle in her reports making it appear that he did no wrong. Still am sure we will get to the bottom of this soon enough. Meanwhile, there have been cases of officers shooting their colleagues, so the don’t take a soldier struggling with his forearm lightly.

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Published 22nd Sep, 2024

By Abimbola Abatta

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