Nigerian Military Court Sentences 54 Soldiers To Death For Mutiny

According to a report on SaharaReporters, a military court in Nigeria has sentenced 54 soldiers to death after they were found guilty of mutiny. The soldiers were convicted Wednesday in Abuja on a two-count charge of criminal conspiracy to commit mutiny. Represented by Femi Falana (SAN), the brunt of the defense's case argued that the soldiers were not guilty of mutiny as accused.

"My Lords, contrary to the general belief in military circles, protest by soldiers does not constitute mutiny," Falana argued in his defense. Imploring the court to uphold precedent as established in the case Cpl Segun Oladele & 22 Ors. v Nigerian Army supra, Falana said "Can we safely conclude that the prosecution has proved all the ingredients in this charge of mutiny against the accused soldiers? The answer is in the negative," he said.

"In the instant case, the Prosecution did not prove that the order given to carry out a military act followed the standard or proper procedure of giving such an order; that the accused soldiers deliberately and by collusion disobeyed the order; that the disobedience and the acts strike at the foundation of discipline in the Army; that the accused persons used violence or threat of violence; and that the acts of the convicts 'were deliberately designed to put the Nigerian Army in imminent danger'."

Despite a thorough 48-page defense, the 54 soldiers were sentenced to death. Four other soldiers were acquitted. The convicted soldiers, mostly officers involved in the fight against the Boko Haram terrorists in Northeast Nigeria, are to die on stakes, by firing squad.

The soldiers, attached to the 7 Division, Nigerian Army in Maiduguri include two Corporals, Cpl, nine Lance Corporals, LCpl and 49 Private soldiers. The charge sheet said the soldiers conspired to commit mutiny against the authorities of the 7 Division on August 4, at the Mulai Primary School camp, opposite AIT Maiduguri, Borno State.

The prosecutor, J.E. Nwosu, an army Captain, alleged that the accused soldiers had on August 4, in Maiduguri, refused to join the 111 Special Forces Battalion troops, commanded by Timothy Opurum, a Lieutenant Colonel for an operation.

Mr. Nwosu said the operation was meant to recapture Delwa, Bulabulin and Damboa in Borno State from the Boko Haram terrorists. According to him, the offence is punishable under Section 52(1) (a) of the Armed Forces Act Cap A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.