Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to withdraw the soldiers deployed in Lagos as a matter of urgency, to avoid a repeat of? what he calls the “nation’s ugly history”.
?Aregbesola, in a statewide broadcast in Osogbo, recalled that when soldiers were deployed to the defunct Western Region in 1965, it consequently led to the Jan. 15, 1966, military coup.
?“We are asking that the soldiers be removed from the streets of Lagos and other affected states in the South West. We must be guided by history.”?
He said the nation’s democracy must be deepened and strengthened, noting that the past experience had shown that the deployment of soldiers in streets could lead to a military coup.
?According to him, the military cannot be restrained from nursing the ambition of interfering in the process of governance and the Federal Government, should therefore, be cautious. “Soldiers are to defend the territorial integrity of the nation and can only be called to checkmate insurrection and not to quell legitimate and peaceful protest.
“We must work assiduously to deepen our democracy and restrict the military to their barracks to face strict professional duties rather than meddle in politics.
?“Such deployment is usually done, if it must be done at al,l as an extreme measure after a war in order to forcibly pacify the affected area,” he added.
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