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 soldiers
are the second batch of Nigerian soldiers condemned to death by Nigerian
Military courts for mutiny.
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, obtained by SaharaReporters. 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 today.
Four other soldiers were acquitted.
Soldiers tried for mutiny
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 soldiers are the second batch of Nigerian soldiers condemned to death by Nigerian Military courts for mutiny.
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