Civilian staff at the Ministry of Defence, represented by the Joint Executive Council, have shut down the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. This action follows allegations of soldiers brutalising civilian employees.
The protest began early Monday morning with hundreds of civilian workers barricading the entrance to the ministry. The President of the Joint Executive Council, Didam Joel, highlighted that a civilian staff member had been unlawfully detained by military authorities for a month, despite not being military personnel. Additionally, an assistant director at Command Secondary School in Ojo, Lagos, was reportedly brutalised the previous day, in direct violation of civil service rules.
The Joint Executive Council, comprising all affiliated unions representing civilian staff in the Ministry of Defence, has voiced strong opposition to these actions. Didam Joel stated, “We cannot stand by as our colleagues are mistreated. This protest is a stand against the lawlessness and brutality we have endured.”
A member of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) stationed with the army in Abuja provided further details. He reported that Ambrose Akhigbe, a civilian, was brutalised on Monday by a private soldier under Lt. Akubor’s command and is currently hospitalised due to his injuries. The official also claimed that a laboratory scientist at the Naval Reference Hospital in Navy Town, Ojo, Lagos, was “brutally killed” two months ago.
“We are facing a crisis where those in command schools in Lagos, including some civilian PSOs, are complicit in these violent acts against Ministry of Defence staff at their duty posts,” the ASCSN official said.
In response to these incidents, the protestors are demanding a thorough overhaul of the command schools. They insist that the schools should return to their original structure, led by professional education officers within the Ministry of Defence, with security provided only if necessary. The ASCSN representative concluded, “The management of the Ministry of Defence must understand that we are resolute in our demands. We cannot predict who might be targeted next, so we must act now.”