IPOB 'Nigeria no longer under military rule', Jonathan tells Buhari

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari on his use of the military in suppressing separatist agitations in the southeast, as well as extending military campaigns to the southsouth and the southwest regions.

The former commander in chief issued this warning in a statement signed by his aide, Reno Omokri, on Tuesday, September 19, 2017.

In the Facebook post, the former leader of the country warned that the activities of the army in combating members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is unnecessary as it is out of their primary designation.

Jonathan made it clear that only the Nigeria Police Force is trained to fight crime internally while the army should be more concerned with facing the nation's external enemies.

The former president warned that the continued use of the military for domestic crime-fighting will only serve to intimidate people.

The statement read, "We want to advise the Buhari administration, which has announced plans to extend the military show of force to the Southsouth and the Southwest 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."

The primary focus of the former president's statement was on Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who recently accused the opposition of sponsoring IPOB and claimed the group's activities were non-existent during Jonathan's tenure