I want to share something quickly in order to give some context to WHY the Nigerian Army in particular have such a deep history of violence. It began with the men seated in this picture. These were the first Army officers in Nigerian history..

These group of men turned on each other around 7-8 years after this photo was taking, setting a standard for violence and impunity both within the army and out of it. These men are all sandhurst trained and 3 of them went on to be heads of state. (Ironsi,Gowon,Ojukwu for biafra)

The first Nigerian coup (jan 15th 1966) took out a good chunk of the first row. The Second Nigerian counter coup in july of that year which was targeted against eastern officers took out much of the backrow(igbo officers)

The stories are well documented of how they died. Its so gruesome that i had to take a breather. That same period in the north nigerian soldiers joined in the killing of easterners leading to the birth of biafra. BUT From that period on the Nigerian army was not the same .

Violence began with these class of men and it has stayed the same till today. The unprofessional nature of the Nigerian army began with these class of men and it has stayed the same till today