Operation Crocodile Smile: ‘Nigeria No Longer Under Military Rule’, Jonathan Lectures Buhari

Immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan has rebuked President Muhammadu Buhari, for approving the deployment of the military to the south east as part of ways to curb the agitations of members of the Independent People of Biafra.

Jonathan said this in a Facebook post on Tuesday which was signed on his behalf by his aide, Reno Omokri.

The former president, in the statement reprimanded Buhari over the plans to extend military deployment to the South-South and the South-West, stating that Nigeria is not operating under the military rule.

He said, “However, we want to advise the Buhari administration, which has announced plans to extend the military show of force to the South-South and the South-West 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.”

On allegations by the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that the activities of IPOB started because Jonathan lost the 2015 election, the former president said, “The insinuations in the press conference given by Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday, accusing the opposition of sponsoring the 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.”