Opinion
Security Service With A Human Face
Long before the popular actor, Jack Bower, of 24-Hour film series, there was a Nigeria police officer with a nickname “Raw Material”, whose service code was: “shoot first, then ask question or answer query later”. He was a terror to the thieves and bandits of Surulere and later, Port Harcourt. Apart from being an expert marksman and unarmed combatant, he was also a good wrestler. Unfortunately, he caused much embarrassment to the Nigeria Police establishment, despite being a terror to criminals.
The Tide newspaper of Friday, July 2, 2021 carried a back-page report in which the Department of State Services (DSS) admitted that its operatives executed a raid on the residence of Sunday Igboho, July 1, 2021. In such operations we are always told that “the team came under heavy gun attack”, causing security operatives to fire back. In Igboho’s case, we are told that “in the course of the exchange, two of Igboho’s armed men were gunned down…” One DSS operative was shot by the assailants on his right hand, causing him an injury, and had medical attention.
When the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States of America was created in 1947, its operatives carried out their services like Jack Bower or Raw Material of the Nigeria Police. Moreover, the Agency engaged in series of unconventional research activities; one of such projects had the code name MKULTRA. It was a top secret mind control project, including experimental hypnosis.
After the World War II and up to 1958, the top-secret research projects of the CIA continued, with the result that developing countries and their citizens became testing grounds and guinea-pigs to prove the effectiveness of mind-control projects. The first two phases of Operation Mind Control had the aim of transforming human beings into unthinking, subconsciously programmed “zombies”, motivated without their knowledge and against their will, to perform in a variety of ways. Similar research projects by the KGB of Germany were strictly monitored and undermined.
Across the globe, security operations have been an industry and tools of the establishment, not only for state security purposes, but also for the promotion of political and other interests, goals and agenda. There is always the danger that since national interest and security supersede those of individual citizens, human rights can be abused under the cover of national interest and state security. There is also an additional danger that a mistaken or error of judgement and action which becomes irreversible, can be covered up by states’ spin doctors.
In the case of CIA, law suits and civil actions by relatives and interest groups in defence of victims of official abuses, tamed some of the excesses of the Agency. From individuals who served as guinea-pigs in the experimental research projects, to operatives who were retired on the basis of mental imbalance, some dark deeds came to light. Also, court judgments and damages awarded to victims served as deterrents.
There is hardly any doubt that law-enforcement agencies and individual operatives often take the law into their own hands and also intimidate those who have the audacity to challenge them when they abuse human rights grossly. It is also unfortunate that because of mass ignorance, fear, timidity, poverty and flaws in the judicial system, a large number of Nigerian citizens suffer in silence. Having served in the police establishment, one is aware of ill-disposed persons and power-seekers using security operatives to plant weapons and incriminating materials in the homes or offices of those that they want to destroy.
The issue of justice, even though it may look complex, is the issue of human conscience which, in many cases, can be brushed aside and undermined. Similarly, the issue of security is fraught with inexplicabilities which, at the end of the day, is governed by the strict mechanism of creation and human existence. First, there is the theory of conservation of matter which stipulates that no one can create, subtract or add anything new to what already exists. What we do is merely re-arrange, combine or split what had existed, the result of whose activity falls back on whoever brought it about.
There is also the controversy about a heightened increase in criminality and acts of violence and brigandage across the globe. Ongoing human experiences demand that there should be a new paradym in efforts to understand global events better. Without such deeper understanding, nations and human agencies would hardly grasp the essence and meaning of what we face currently.
Therefore, security services and operations in all ramifications should not be a “Jack Bower” or “Raw Material” approach, but the application of modern research findings on the issue of security. What are the modern research findings on global security issue? Quite shocking! To say that for over 150 years “monstrous souls” had invaded the Earth through birth as human babies, may sound like one of those tales of dooms-day prophets. If we take the school system as an example, it can be illustrated that as final, cumulative assessment approaches, truant students with excess carryover workload, hustle to play their “last card”.
As much as possible, there are those who would not want to go down alone, but would seek to cause as much mayhem as they can, to pull others down with them. The irony of the matter is that the dark, monster-like souls, as humans on Earth, come with formidable powers, which only a few people can recognise or resist successfully. They are not the touts in the motor-parks but those who can give orders. Those in the security services are usually admonished to carry out their task with personal discretion. Let us also add here, human face. Give a human face to what you do!
There is a principle of personal responsibility, whereby every individual takes the fall-outs from his actions, decisions, etc, in his private and official capacities and positions. Nobody is protected by the office or position that he holds. Rather, the conscience is an unfailing guide. Heed it! “Raw Material” died recently in a dusty way. There’s more to life than earning a living as a security operative.
Dr Amirize is a retired lecturer from the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt.
The events that unfolded in Abuja on Tuesday November 11, 2025 between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike and a detachment of soldiers guarding a disputed property, led by Adams Yerima, a commissioned Naval Officer, may go down as one of the defining images of Nigeria’s democratic contradictions. It was not merely a quarrel over land. It was a confrontation between civil authority and the military legacy that still hovers over our national life.
Nyesom Wike, fiery and fearless as always, was seen on video exchanging words with a uniformed officer who refused to grant him passage to inspect a parcel of land alleged to have been illegally acquired. The minister’s voice rose, his temper flared, and the soldier, too, stood his ground, insisting on his own authority. Around them, aides, security men, and bystanders watched, stunned, as two embodiments of the Nigerian state clashed in the open.
The images spread fast, igniting debates across drawing rooms, beer parlours, and social media platforms. Some hailed Wike for standing up to military arrogance; others scolded him for perceived disrespect to the armed forces. Yet beneath the noise lies a deeper question about what sort of society we are building and whether power in Nigeria truly understands the limits of its own reach.
It is tragic that, more than two decades into civil rule, the relationship between the civilian arm of government and the military remains fragile and poorly understood. The presence of soldiers in a land dispute between private individuals and the city administration is, by all civic standards, an aberration. It recalls a dark era when might was right, and uniforms conferred immunity against accountability.
Wike’s anger, even if fiery, was rooted in a legitimate concern: that no individual, however connected or retired, should deploy the military to protect personal interests. That sentiment echoes the fundamental democratic creed that the law is supreme, not personalities. If his passion overshot decorum, it was perhaps a reflection of a nation weary of impunity.
On the other hand, the soldier in question is a symbol of another truth: that discipline, respect for order, and duty to hierarchy are ingrained in our armed forces. He may have been caught between conflicting instructions one from his superiors, another from a civilian minister exercising his lawful authority. The confusion points not to personal failure but to institutional dysfunction.
It is, therefore, simplistic to turn the incident into a morality play of good versus evil.
*********”**** What happened was an institutional embarrassment. Both men represented facets of the same failing system a polity still learning how to reconcile authority with civility, law with loyalty, and service with restraint.
In fairness, Wike has shown himself as a man of uncommon courage. Whether in Rivers State or at the FCTA, he does not shy away from confrontation. Yet courage without composure often feeds misunderstanding. A public officer must always be the cooler head, even when provoked, because the power of example outweighs the satisfaction of winning an argument.
Conversely, soldiers, too, must be reminded that their uniforms do not place them above civilian oversight. The military exists to defend the nation, not to enforce property claims or intimidate lawful authorities. Their participation in purely civil matters corrodes the image of the institution and erodes public trust.
One cannot overlook the irony: in a country where kidnappers roam highways and bandits sack villages, armed men are posted to guard contested land in the capital. It reflects misplaced priorities and distorted values. The Nigerian soldier, trained to defend sovereignty, should not be drawn into private or bureaucratic tussles.
Sycophancy remains the greatest ailment of our political culture. Many of those who now cheer one side or the other do so not out of conviction but out of convenience. Tomorrow they will switch allegiance. True patriotism lies not in defending personalities but in defending principles. A people enslaved by flattery cannot nurture a culture of justice.
The Nigerian elite must learn to submit to the same laws that govern the poor. When big men fence off public land and use connections to shield their interests, they mock the very constitution they swore to uphold. The FCT, as the mirror of national order, must not become a jungle where only the powerful can build.
The lesson for Wike himself is also clear: power is best exercised with calmness. The weight of his office demands more than bravery; it demands statesmanship. To lead is not merely to command, but to persuade — even those who resist your authority.
Equally, the lesson for the armed forces is that professionalism shines brightest in restraint. Obedience to illegal orders is not loyalty; it is complicity. The soldier who stands on the side of justice protects both his honour and the dignity of his uniform.
The Presidency, too, must see this episode as a wake-up call to clarify institutional boundaries. If soldiers can be drawn into civil enforcement without authorization, then our democracy remains at risk of subtle militarization. The constitution must speak louder than confusion.
The Nigerian public deserves better than spectacles of ego. We crave leaders who rise above emotion and officers who respect civilian supremacy. Our children must not inherit a nation where authority means shouting matches and intimidation in public glare.
Every democracy matures through such tests. What matters is whether we learn the right lessons. The British once had generals who defied parliament; the Americans once fought over states’ rights; Nigeria, too, must pass through her own growing pains but with humility, not hubris.
If the confrontation has stirred discomfort, then perhaps it has done the nation some good. It forces a conversation long overdue: Who truly owns the state — the citizen or the powerful? Can we build a Nigeria where institutions, not individuals, define our destiny?
As the dust settles, both the FCTA and the military hierarchy must conduct impartial investigations. The truth must be established — not to shame anyone, but to restore order. Where laws were broken, consequences must follow. Where misunderstandings occurred, apologies must be offered.
Let the rule of law triumph over the rule of impulse. Let civility triumph over confrontation. Let governance return to the path of dialogue and procedure.
Nigeria cannot continue to oscillate between civilian bravado and military arrogance. Both impulses spring from the same insecurity — the fear of losing control. True leadership lies in the ability to trust institutions to do their work without coercion.
Those who witnessed the clash saw a drama of two gladiators. One in starched khaki, one in well-cut suit. Both proud, both unyielding. But a nation cannot be built on stubbornness; it must be built on understanding. Power, when it meets power, should produce order, not chaos.
We must resist the temptation to glorify temper. Governance is not warfare; it is stewardship. The citizen watches, the world observes, and history records. How we handle moments like this will define our collective maturity.
The confrontation may have ended without violence, but it left deep questions in the national conscience. When men of authority quarrel in the open, institutions tremble. The people, once again, become spectators in a theatre of misplaced pride.
It is time for all who hold office — civilian or military — to remember that they serve under the same flag. That flag is neither khaki nor political colour; it is green-white-green, and it demands humility.
No victor, no vanquish only a lesson for a nation still learning to govern itself with dignity.
By; King Onunwor
