19th December, 2015
There is some reprieve for 66 Nigerian soldiers condemned to death earlier this year for mutiny by court martial. The 66 allegedly mutinied after dozens of fellow soldiers died in a Boko Haram ambush, when they were ordered against their will to drive down a dangerous road at night.
Nigeria’s Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, has directed that their death sentences by firing squad be commuted to 10 years imprisonment each.
The soldiers were condemned at trials concluded in January and March 2015 by separate court martial.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday by acting Army Spokesman, Col. Sani Usman, Buratai said the sentences would run concurrently.
The statement said that the cases of soldiers facing similar disciplinary actions were also being reviewed by the authorities concerned.
The statement directed the review of the sentences following petitions received from and on behalf of the accused soldiers.
“Following series of petitions, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, ordered for a legal review of the cases and the directive was carried out to examine the merit of each case.
“It was on the basis of the review and recommendations that the Chief of Army Staff commuted the death sentences of the 66 soldiers to 10 years imprisonment which are to run concurrently.
“The cases of other soldiers are being reviewed and will be made public once the appropriate reviews are completed,’’ the statement quoted Usman as saying.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that 71 soldiers were arraigned on several charges in joint trials by Nigerian Army earlier in the year.
The soldiers were arraigned on several count charges that included criminal conspiracy and conspiracy to commit mutiny.
The other charges were attempt to commit an offence (murder), disobedience to particular orders, insubordinate behaviour and false accusation, among others.
Out of the number, 66 were found guilty on some of the count charges and sentenced to death while five were discharged and acquitted.
The Nigerian Army has, earlier in the year reinstated hundreds of soldiers dismissed from service and redeployed them to operations in parts of the country.