Nigerian Army Condemns Four More Soldiers To Death By Firing Squad

The General Military Court Martial setup by the authorities of the Nigerian Army to try some soldiers of the 111 Special Forces Battalion, Maiduguri, have again condemned four soldiers to death by firing squad.

Investigations revealed that the
President of the Court, Brig.- Gen
Musa Yusuf, found the four soldiers
guilty of conspiracy to commit
mutiny and thus sentenced them to
death.

It was learnt that the court
condemned the four soldiers to
death on December 24, 2014.

The GCM had earlier convicted 54
of the 59 soldiers to death after
finding them guilty of conspiracy to
commit mutiny on December 17,
2014.

Five soldiers from the 111 Special
Forces Battalion who were tried
alongside the 54 for allegedly
refusing to obey an order from
their Commander, were found to be
innocent of the charges and were
discharged and acquitted.

Prior to the conviction of the 54
soldiers, another GCM had
convicted 12 out of 18 soldiers tried
for mutiny on September 14, 2014.
The conviction of the four soldiers
brought the total number of
soldiers convicted and sentenced to
death to 70.

Meanwhile, authoritative military
sources said that soldiers of the
Nigerian Army were being tried for
administrative offences in
designated military formations
across the country.

Investigation revealed that the
Commanding Officer of the Ojo
Garrison Command, the General
Officer Commanding of the 82
Division, Enugu and his counterpart in Kaduna are trying officers for various acts of misdemeanour on a daily basis.

These Court Martials are in
addition to the General Court
Martials established by the
authorities of the Nigerian Army to
try allegations of acts of
misdemeanour against soldiers
involved in the ongoing counter
terrorism campaign in the North-
East.

The Director, Army Public
Relations, Brig. Gen. Olajide Laleye,
had said in a press briefing on
Wednesday that the military
authorities had set up Court
Martials in three military
formations in Jos, Abuja and Lagos
to try acts of misdemeanour
emanating from the ongoing
counter insurgency and counter
terrorism operations
in the North-East.

The GCMS are domiciled in the
Ikeja Cantonment Lagos, The
Headquarters of the 3rd Armoured
Division, Maxweel Kobe Military
Cantonment, Jos and the Nigerian
Army Headquarters Garrison,
Abuja.

On Friday, Laleye commented on
the reported dismissal of 203
soldiers after alleged summary
night trial, saying it was not true
that the Army conducted secret
night trial to decide the fate of
soldiers.

He said while he was neither
confirming nor refuting the story,
commanders of the Nigerian Army
had been trying soldiers for
various emerging offences in
adherence with military laws and
long established procedures guiding the operations of the Armed Forces.

Source: PunchNg