A military court martial on Wednesday began the trial of 59 soldiers in Abuja for criminal conspiracy to commit mutiny and for disobeying the order of their commanding officer in Maiduguri.
Major General Chris Olukolade, in a telephone interview told our Correspondent confirmed the development. He added that the soldiers are being charged with offences, which include criminal conspiracy to commit mutiny on August 4, 2014 in Maiduguri.
The accused soldiers were also charged with mutiny for refusing to obey the orders of their commanding officer, Lt. Col. Timothy Opurum, of the 111 Special Forces Battalion, to take part in an operation.
The judge, Lt. Col Ukpe Ukpe, who read the charges to them, said the operation in question was meant to recapture Yelwa, Bellabulini, and Damboa in Borno State.
The Commander of the 111 Special Forces Battalion is currently testifying before the military panel.
Although, the Army authorities initially planned to charge 60 soldiers for mutiny, the charges against one of the accused was dropped because of ill health.
The lead prosecutor, Capt. Joseph Nwosu, called the attention of the court to the fact that the 11th accused person, CPL Anthony Simon, was too sick to be arraigned.
He said the list of accused had to be amended to reflect that 59 people are being arraigned for mutiny.
It would be recalled that the General Court Martial, which has Brig. Gen. Musa Yusuf as the President, was inaugurated on the orders of the Garrison Commander, Brig. Gen. B. T. Ndiomu, on October 2, 2014.
However, the court did not try any of the cases after the inauguration, as it adjourned to October 15 for proceedings to commence. Investigation revealed that none of the 15 officers of the Nigerian Army brought before the Court Martial would be tried for mutiny
It was further gathered that while 60 of the soldiers were being charged for mutiny, 22 others would be facing trial for other acts of misdemeanor in the ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the North-East.
A source, had confided in our correspondent, that on Monday, the GCM would commence effective sitting with the cases of the 60 soldiers being tried for mutiny.
It was stated that the military authorities planned to give immediate treatment to all munity cases before going into other charges that were considered not as grave.
The source said, “The General Court Martial commenced with the trial of 60 soldiers for mutiny on Wednesday. None of the 15 officers, who are facing the court martial, is being charged for mutiny; they are facing other charges that have to do with operation.
“Also, soldiers who are not going to be tried for mutiny were not in court on Wednesday. I think, the CGM wants to dispose of cases that have to do with mutiny before moving to other cases that are less grave.”
When contacted, Mr. Femi Falana, (SAN), whose law firm is handling the cases of 68 out of 97 army personnel facing the court martial, said that the matter had begun. “The matter is on as I talk to you now. I would call you back.”
