Where is Sergeant Rogers?

Not many showed interest when in 2009, it was reported that Sergeant Barnabas Jabila of the Nigeria Army, known more by his alias of Sergeant Rogers, had an accident and injured his spinal cord.

The accident which occurred along the Abuja-Kaduna Express way happened more than 10 years after the face of Rogers hit public space as the man who killed for Abacha and all the tales about his meanness and ferocity had died down.

Sgt. Rogers was a member of the Strike Force and Presidential Body Guard, which were specialized military squads believed to have been used by the former Chief Security Officer to Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha to get at the opponents of that regime.

Rogers was said to be serving at a unit in Jaji when a signal came that he should report to Abuja for training as a member of the special squad. While undergoing training in counter terrorism in Abuja in the hands of some Israeli instructors, Rogers was said to have impressed his instructors with his quick reflexes and ability to learn and the Israelis gave him a special recommendation which endeared him to Al-Mustapha.

Shortly after Abacha died in 1998, the public was regaled with tales of horror that took place during his regime and the names that frequently kept coming up as the men behind the atrocities included Rogers and others like Frank Omenka.

That was when a news magazine ran the picture of Rogers donned in black khaftan with a machine gun across his shoulders with the caption, ‘The man who killed for Abacha.’

Since the expose, the identity of Rogers became a subject of interest to many especially those whose relatives suffered one form of deprivation or the other during the regime.

People were also keen to know the circumstances behind some of the alleged atrocities and what drove the regime into doing what it did.

Those alleged to have received the bitter treatment of Rogers include Alex Ibru, Kudirat Abiola and Alfred Rewane, among others.

It was not surprising therefore that Roger’s name featured among several petitions submitted to the Human Rights Violation and Investigation Commission, also known as the Oputa panel when it was set up in the early days of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.

In most of the petitions, Rogers was alleged to have trailed his victims with uncommon viciousness, and physically assaulted and tortured them. Some of the victims like the former Chief of General Staff, Oladipo Diya openly testified against Rogers and recalled how he took active part in torturing them while in detention.

Rogers who was given the opportunity to defend himself painted the picture of a man driven by patriotism and commitment to duty as opposed to a sadist who derives joy from seeing people in pains.

The sergeant explained that he was under a command and that he was only obeying the orders of his superiors and that he was made to believe that carrying out the orders was what was best for the country at that time.

He said it was only in one of the operations he was involved in that resulted in death, that of Kudirat Abiola;  but denied having a hand in the death of others.

He later explained in an interview that, “I’m under the command of the army and under the federal government. I’m a servant, you know, a servant doing my service to the nation. Just like the Centurion said, if they say go, I go, come, I come; do this and I will do it; don’t do this and I don’t do it.”

He will also claim responsibility for the burning of the homes of Lt.-Gen. Alani Akinrinade and Air Commodore Dan Suleiman.

Unlike Al-Mustapha who was later charged to court and detained for several years for his alleged crime, Rogers got a better deal as he was out of detention not long after the Oputa Panel had concluded its sitting.

The end of the Abacha administration it appeared, did not draw the curtains on the career of Sgt. Rogers.

Shortly after the hearing, there were reports that Rogers had been smuggled back into the Nigerian Army and that he may have been given a position similar to the one he held under Abacha which raised fears that the enemies of the then administration might be targeted.

Many asked the Federal Government to explain how that happened and questioned the intention of those behind the move and asked the government to come out with the true position of things.

Rogers, who is never one to shy from stating the fact did not deny it. When asked later if he had been retired from the army, he said, “I am still in the army; I am a Sergeant in the army and attached to the SSS headquarters up till now. My last date of promotion was in September 1995, that’s like 19 years or so.”

Luckily no further case of murder or torture was linked to him after he was brought back into service up to 2009 when he had the accident that confined him to wheel chair and kept him out of circulation.

Rogers recalled vividly how the accident occurred, he said, “actually I went to the farm to bring some produce and on my way back, along Kaduna-Abuja Road, the two front tyres pulled off; that was how it happened. I found myself in the hospital. I was assisted by some soldiers and policemen that were on patrol on the highway.

“They took me to the hospital and I was admitted and treated. I was first admitted to the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital at Gwagwalada and I was also treated at the SSS hospital. I have people that come here to treat me. Since then, I have been on treatment in various hospitals and some doctors and physiotherapists come to treat me at home.

“As somebody in need of medical care, wherever I hear that there are persons that can treat me, I would go. I have been to alternative healthcare givers and prayer houses. Either I’m taken there or they come here to help me.”

Rogers said he has become a born again Christian and has given his life to Christ which he said would accord him the opportunity to become a pastor,  what he had always wanted to be before enlisting into the Nigerian army in the late 80s.

“Actually, before I joined the army, I thought I would be a pastor but I found myself in the army. I could have gone through that way but God has a plan for everything. I cannot now say that I regret what God has allowed and what He planned. As a believer all things work together for good, God has a purpose for everything and that is why I will not regret anything. I take everything the way it comes and I give glory to God,” he says.

Rogers however laments the fact that all what he was promised while carrying out the special assignments including the promise of a house and further training abroad did not come through. He feels that those he worked closely with abandoned him in his time of need.