Soldiers standing trial for mutiny.
A military court sitting in Abuja have sentenced 12 soldiers to death for mutiny.
The court on Monday found 13 out of the 18 soldiers standing trial for mutiny and other offences guilty.
The soldiers, who committed the offence while duty post in the insurgency hotbed – Borno State, were said to have fired shots at their commanding officer.
In a decision announced early Tuesday, a military tribunal found 12 soldiers guilty, five were discharged and acquitted while the remaining one was jailed for 28 days with hard labour.
All the accused denied the charges.
The soldiers accused their commanders of conspiring to kill fellow troopers after a convoy was ambushed May 13 on a road frequently attacked by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram. They were driving from Chibok, the northeastern town from which more than 270 schoolgirls were kidnapped a month earlier.
When the soldiers’ bodies were brought to northeastern Maiduguri city on May 14, 2014, the surviving soldiers revolted, throwing stones at at the General Officer Commanding the newly created 7 Division of Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Mohammmed, in Maiduguri and then shooting at him. The officer took refuge in an armored vehicle and was unharmed.
The act is viewed in the military as mutiny.
Those discharged are David Robert, Mohammed Sani, Iseh Ubong, Sebastine Gwaba and Naaman Samuel.
Jeremiah Echocho was sentenced to 28 days with hard labour.
Those who were sentenced to death are Jasper Braidolor, David Musa, Friday Onuh, Yusuf Shuaibu, Igonmu Emmanuel, Andrew Ugbede, Nurudeen Ahmed, Ifeanyi Alukagba, Alao Samuel, Amadi Chukwuma, Alan Linus, and Stephen Clement.
They were found guilty of criminal conspiracy, mutiny, attempt to commit murder (shooting of the vehicle of the GOC); insubordination to a particular order; insubordination and false accusation.
The President of the Court Martial, Maj. Gen. C.C. Okonkwo, said the 12 soldiers were found guilty of three of the most heinous charges bars.
The legal team of the convicts pleaded with the court martial to temper justice with mercy.
The team reeled out pathetic stories about the family backgrounds of the convicted servicemen.
One was said to be the only son of his octogenarian widowed mother.
Another is the father of a five-month-old baby.
The defence team argued that giving them maximum sentence would do more harm than good, adding that it would increase the agony of their dependants.
The attack on the GOC and his men reportedly occurred when they visited the cantonment.
The Maimalari Cantonment is the headquarters of 7 Division, the newest Division of the Nigerian Army.
Military sources said that soldiers at the cantonment had been complaining of insufficient ammunition, food and allowances prior to the GOC’s visit.
They were also reportedly unhappy and their morale was at its lowest ebb because there had not been troop rotation for a long time since their deployment to combat Boko Haram terrorists in the North- East.
Some soldiers loathe posting to the battle fronts where the Nigerian soldiers are battling insurgents, loading to some muted and sometimes open protests over postings to such areas.
The Rainbow, with agency reports
