Encomium
The military court sitting in Abuja on Monday, September 15, 2014, found 13 out of the 18 soldiers standing trial for mutiny and other offences guilty.
12 of the convicted soldiers who were sentenced to death were Jasper Braidolor, David Musa, Friday Onuh, Yusuf Shuaibu, Igonmu Emmanuel, Andrew Ugbede, Nurudeen Ahmed, Ifeanyi Alukagba, Alao Samuel, Amadi Chukwuma, Alan Linus, and Stephen Clement.
Five were, however, discharged and acquitted, while the remaining one was jailed for 28 days with hard labour.
An act viewed in the military as mutiny, the soldiers had on May 14, 2014, fired shots at the General Officer Commanding the newly created 7 Division of Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Mohammmed, in Maiduguri, Borno State.
But the death sentence given to the 12 soldiers by the President of the Court Martial, Maj. Gen. C. C. Okonkwo has attracted condemnation by prominent Nigerians, including activists, human rights lawyers and public commentators.
ENCOMIUM Weekly asked them why they want the soldiers to live.
‘The convicted soldiers and their family members should lose no sleep’ – BARRISTER CLEMENT ONWUENWUNOR, (Legal practitioner)
The death sentence passed by a military court martial on 12 soldiers alleged to have shot at their GOC’s car is bizarre as it is ridiculous. Although, the convicted soldiers appear to have over reacted under the heat of passion, no law in Nigerian Armed Forces punishes such assault and insubordination now upgraded to mutiny with death penalty but at worse, life imprisonment.
The military ought to have learnt from similar sentences passed on some ECOMOG soldiers years back which Court of Appeal, Lagos Division quashed. The military’s further appeal against the Court of Appeal judgment to the Supreme Court was not even heard in open court but dismissed in the chambers by the Supreme Court.
The military should have known from that case the attitude of the appellate court to their questionable sentences that hardly pass any legal forensic scrutiny. The convicted soldiers and their family members should lose no sleep on this issue and immediately approach the Court of Appeal to set the sentences aside.
‘Mutiny in the military comes with grave consequences’ – KAYODE SALAKO
The soldiers erred in military law. Mutiny in the military culture is a big offence and most times, comes with serious punishment, which may be death sentence as we are witnessing already in the case of the 12 soldiers.
In the military culture, tradition and hierarchy of command, soldiers are only meant to carry out orders, especially those of their superior officers and any mutiny or revolt is an act of indiscipline and sabotage to military ethics and it carries grave consequences, if found culpable or
guilty by the military authority or the constituted tribunal investigating or trying such an offence.
Any professional soldier should know that and should expect the worst, if caught in that web of sabotage to the military ethics. So, in my own view, the convicted soldiers should have known that they are in an industry where you don’t protest or question the order of a superior officer, not to talk of a whole commanding officer in charge of a platoon on a war front.
What the tradition in Nigeria right now is that everybody is turning to an activist or a human right crusader, who can always decide to protest against anything that does not favour them. But we can’t have this in our security agencies or else, there would be serious anarchy in the land. Imagine the police, customs, immigration, NSCDC, LASTMA going on strike or soldiers protesting without caution.
Some certain professions have it strictly in their code of conduct to uphold certain ethics. The military and the police are typical examples. You cannot protest in these forces, especially disobeying the order of a superior officer, let alone, say you want to attack a commander at a war front. There would be anarchy in the military force and soldiers can now decide to start forming pressure groups and in the process distablise the command hierarchy of the forces.
Trust Nigerians for who we are. If this is allowed to go unchecked, we may now begin to have a situation where soldiers would start forming pressure groups and threatening their superior officers. Since it is easy to get guns in the barracks, even Boko Haram have beheaded many of its own soldiers who went against the order or command of the superior authority or betrayals several times.
Anywhere, in the world, mutiny in the military comes with grave consequences and these soldiers should have known that this is what they willingly signed to uphold and live by when they were enrolling in the military. So, they erred and they should be blamed for what they did. And as for the death sentence, that is a typical punishment in the military.
The only thing that can save the soldiers, is if they appeal and they could find the favour of the tribunal. The only thing that can save them is luck or else, the military disciplinary tradition would execute them. It is only unfortunate that the nation has lost a lot of soldiers to the seemingly overwhelming power of Boko Haram.
And now, we are talking about killing 12 soldiers. Just because our military is still ill equipped and deep corruption will not allow them to grow. The only thing that can also save the soldiers is if the Commander in Chief, President Goodluck Jonathan, himself decides to set them off the hook or commit their sentence to alternative punishment.
‘The law should take its ordinary course’ – HON. MOJEED ALABI, (Legal practitioner)
Ordinarily, mutiny in the army or any of the armed forces of any nation should not be condoned in whatever guise and should attract maximum sanction from both the military and the civil authorities. Absolute loyalty to the civil authority is what democracy demands from the military in such time of serious security challenges like this.
However, with the kind of insinuations about the probable culpability of the highest levels of civilian and military authorities involvement in the Boko Haram phenomena and the illegal use of the military by the Federal Government to intimidate citizens and other opposition elements, I doubt if we can safely ask for the head of any military officer who, for just cause, feel unable to respond enthusiastically to order of a patently biased superior officer.
The law should take its ordinary course, after due and proper investigation.
‘SENTENCE CANNOT STAND SCRUTINY’ – BARRISTER BISI ADEGBUYI, (Legal practitioner)
I believe it is too severe, punitive and a great act of injustice has been perpetuated. It must be remedied.
The convicted soldiers have a right to appeal, that sentence cannot stand scrutiny . It will not stand. Men and women in this country should speak against injustice.
I believe their interest was not taken care of, that was what led to that act of insubordination . Being a soldier should not mean they should be left to die. They should be given the necessary arms to defend the country and themselves. I, therefore, hope that it can be remedied at the appeal court.
