COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE ROLES OF THE MILITARY IN INTERNAL SECURITY OPERATIONS IN NIGERIA WITH SOME OTHER JURISDICTIONS

Abstract

The emergence of new security challenges such as terrorism, militancy, banditry, natural disasters and other forms on internal conflict and crisis in the countries of the world today has evolved the use of the military from its traditional functions of defending the state against external threats to an engagement in internal roles and uses. This work aims to review and compare the internal roles the military is allowed to play in Nigeria and within some selected regional democracies. The legal bases for military internal roles in the entities or countries reviewed are analysed to fully identify and understand the context in which internal roles and tasks are performed by the military. It is found that the internal roles of the military are varied in the countries or entities reviewed depending on each country’s historical, legal, social and political background. However, the lacunae, clogs and restrictions found in some of the legal frameworks regulating the use of the military in internal security operations and the increasing use of the military in internal security operations have posed some potential hazards or challenges. The military personnel in internal security operations are not without wrongful deeds and abuses like human rights violations. It is, therefore, recommended that all lacunae, clogs, restrictions and military uses which pose potential hazards or challenges should be addressed and removed. The Nigerian government and policy makers are advised to learn from its own and other countries’ experiences to guide the nation in formulating and adjusting the respective military internal roles, functions, responsibilities and the extent the military is used in handling internal security challenges in Nigeria.