Nigeria orders troops to barracks

It has been an difficult time in Nigeria, with open political issues and regional claims against the central government, and one can add to that another bloody round of violence in Plateau State as Hausa-speaking "Settlers" tribals and the mostly-Christian "Indigenes" tribals find yet another reason to kill each other...

and all the while, the President of the country is... gone.

away.

out of the country getting medical treatment.

since November.

without transferring executive authority to his Vice President.

The Federal High Court has ruled (last Friday) that within 14 days a judgment must be rendered as to President Umaru Yar'Adua's fitness to rule, and empowered the cabinet to return the judgment.

Some people may not be willing to wait that long.

Fears of a military coup are floating about, and the Army has now restricted troop movements outside of barracks areas.

Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Danbazau told reporters that troops must have passes, and good reasons, to travel outside the place their units are stationed. Fears of a coup in the young democracy are rising as President Umaru Yar'Adua's absence has stretched into more than two months.

Danbazau dismissed the "unnecessary, unwarranted and inflammatory comments" circulating saying a coup might be needed to pull the country out of a constitutional crisis in Yar'Adua's absence. Danbazau warned that a military coup would be akin to "dragging us back to the dark days of our nation's history."

"We are aware of the fact that there is tension in the country. We know it's not a secret," Danbazau said. "Everybody knows that. And we also got intelligence information that whereby some people are trying to infiltrate into our ranks."

Fourteen days can not pass quickly enough.

Consider this a travel advisory for Nigeria until this is settled.