Halt The Genocidal Elimination Of Nigerian Soldiers - Femi Falana

Yesterday, the General Court-
Martial sitting in Abuja which
tried another batch of 59 soldiers
for conspiracy to mutiny and
mutiny convicted 54 of the
accused persons and sentenced
them to death while 5 were
discharged and acquitted. The
acquittal was designed to give
the false impression that the
dubious verdict was fair and just.
The soldiers were in the SF 111
Batallion which has 174 instead
of 750 soldiers. The soldiers in the
Batallion were neither equipped
nor motivated. They are young
men whose ages range between
21 and 25.

Most of them joined the army in 2012.

With little or no training whatsoever they
were deployed to fight the dreaded Boko
Haram sect. The funds allocated for
payment of the salaries and allowances of
the soldiers and for purchase of arms and
ammunition are usually diverted and
cornered by corrupt military officers.
Instead of bringing such unpatriotic
officers to book the military authorities
have engaged in the diversionary tactics
of wasting the lives of innocent soldiers by
sentencing them to death without any
legal justification.
On July 9, 2014 the Boko Haram sect
launched a ferocious attack on the
Batallion. As the soldiers were ill-equipped
and ill-motivated the well armed terrorists
killed 3 officers and 23 soldiers and
inflicted serious injuries on 82 others. While
sympathizing with the bereaved soldiers
the army authorities assured them that
adequate weapons would be provided to
match the sophisticated weapons of the
Boko Haram sect. But without the provision
of the said weapons the soldiers were
ordered on August 4, 2014 to recapture
Delwa, Balubulin and Damboa in Borno
State from the Boko Haram terrorists. The
soldiers demanded for weapons so as not
to lose more officers and men in the
circumstance. A few soldiers who embarked
on the suicidal mission together with the
Commanding Officer were ambushed by
the Boko Haram troops.
When some weapons were made available
on August 8, 2014, the soldiers moved to
the battlefront, dislodged the satanic Boko
Haram sect and liberated their captured
colleagues and officers. They were
commended for their bravery and
sacrifice. But for some inexplicable reasons,
the army authorities ordered that the
soldiers be charged with mutiny for
allegedly exposing the armed forces to
embarrassment by asking for weapons!
Thus, 60 soldiers were charged before the
court-martial led by Brigadier-General M.
Yusuf. The charge was however withdrawn
against one of them on health ground.
When the trial commenced against the
remaining 59 the court-martial allowed
defense correspondents and reporters to
cover the proceedings. But the revealing
testimonies of the prosecution witnesses
embarrassed the army authorities.
In particular, the defence pointed out that
by not providing the soldiers with
adequate weapons the Federal
Government had violated Section 217 (2)
(b) of the Constitution which provides that
the Federation shall, subject to an Act of
the National Assembly made in that behalf,
equip and maintain the armed forces as
may be considered adequate and
effective for the purpose of maintaining its
territorial integrity and securing its borders
from violation on land, sea or air.
It is public knowledge that it was when the
trial of the soldiers was in progress that the
President and Commander-in-chief of the
Armed Forces, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan,
sought and obtained the approval of the
National Assembly for a loan of USD$1
billion to purchase equipment for the
prosecution of the war on terror. Up till
now, the loan has not been utilized for the
purchase of weapons!
It was on the basis of such revelation that
the court-martial resorted to sitting in
camera and prohibited the media from
further reporting the proceedings. In the
judgment delivered yesterday the court-
martial refused to consider the evidence
led in court and convicted 54 of the
soldiers for having the temerity to ask for
weapons to carry out the task of
defending the territorial integrity of the
nation. Since the soldiers were justified in
refusing to commit suicide the verdict
which is characterized by gross
miscarriage of justice will not stand. Apart
from the fact that the Prosecution did not
lead any scintilla of evidence to prove the
2-count charge of conspiracy and mutiny
against any of the convicts the Court-
martial did not consider the defence of
the soldiers in any material particular.
Convinced that soldiers who made a
legitimate demand for equipment to fight
the insurgents cannot, by any stretch of
imagination, be properly convicted for
mutiny we shall take all necessary legal
measures to prevent the army authorities
from giving effect to the genocidal verdict
of the court-martial. We submit that the
oath of allegiance taken by the accused
soldiers is not a license to commit suicide.
It is a solemn undertaking to defend the
nation based on the expectation that the
Federal Government would have complied
with Section 217 of the Constitution on the
mandatory requirement to equip the armed
forces adequately. It is important to state
that when equipment was made available
on 18 August 2014, the accused soldiers
fought gallantly.
Femi Falana SAN.