15 Soldiers Imprisoned Over Boko Haram

Latest reports indicate that the Nigerian
Army have sentenced at least 15 soldiers  to
four years jail term for refusing to report to
the war front in the northern parts of
Adamawa State.
It was gathered that the soldiers had for the past
three weeks facing court-martial since they
allegedly commit the offence.
According to a report published by AIT online,
the sentencing of the officers carried out by the
Nigerian military command was done on
Wednesday, 18 September, 2014, at the 23rd
Armoured Brigade, in Yola , Adamawa State.
It was gathered that the Court Martial found the
15 soldiers guilty of insubordination, dereliction
to duty and refusal to undertake order assigned
to them in the war against the Boko Haram
insurgents in the North East part of the country.
This is barely two days after the Nigerian Army
sentenced 12 of its personnel to death by firing
squad after they staged a mutiny and attacked
the GOC, 3 Division in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Speaking on the matter, a top military source
said the affected soldiers were those who ran
away when Boko Haram struck their duty posts
and fled back to the cantonment.
“In the military tradition, a soldier is expected
to obey the last order but the 15 soldiers
convicted by the military command were
adjudged to have committed acts of
insubordination by their refusal to draft to the
warfront.” the unnamed source stated.
The source maintained that the decision of the
military is intended to reinforce sanity and
discipline in the Nigerian Army.
“The military has been grappling with soldiers
deserting from their tour of duty only to re-
surface with all manner of tales, and the
development is gradually beginning to impugn
on the integrity of the military
establishment,” he added.
It would be recalled that Lagos lawyer, Femi
Falana (SAN) had few days ago called on the
Nigerian military authority not to confirm the
death sentence passed on 12 soldiers for mutiny
and other offences.
Falana advised that the death sentence instead
should be commuted to imprisonment in the
interest of Justice.
As at the time of compiling this report, it is not
yet known if the 15 soldiers would be pardoned.