Nigeria soldiers get two years in jail over schoolgirls’ abduction

ABUJA

The April 14 abduction of 279 schoolgirls by Boko Haram militants has visited a burden on the military as three officers and 13 other soldiers have been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment each for their inability to stop the raid on the school.

The soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel, a Captain and a Second lieutenant were tried by a Military Court Martial at the Maxwell Khobe Military Cantonment, Rukuba in Jos, Plateau State.

The officers are Colonel A. O. Ojo, Captain O. O. Ogunrinde, and 2nd Lieutenant V.I. Godknows and 13 others.

The Defence Counsel to Col Ojo, Mr Shuaibu Isah, said the judgment was a far cry from the evidence presented before the court and that they would appeal against the judgment.

The schoolgirls were abducted in their hostel on the night of April 14.

SUPERIOR WEAPONS
The Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Nigeria’s north-east where the girls were abducted was reported to be hosting students who were sitting their secondary school exit examination when the insurgents struck.

It was reported that some soldiers armed with AK 47 were on duty when the students were abducted but could not restrain the rampaging insurgents.

Some 70 of the abductees have fled the terrorists, leaving about 200 who the Nigerian authorities have not been able to rescue.

Soldiers on guard had complained that they could not fight because the insurgents had superior weapons.

The military seems to be on the fire from both sides – government and insurgents.

While Boko Haram continue to inflict casualty in the army on the last one month, the military had passed death sentence on 66 soldiers in two different trials in the last three weeks for mutiny, apart from the jail terms on the 13 soldiers.

RIFLE MISPLACEMENT
Many more, including a Brigadier General, have been arraigned before a Court Martial by the Nigerian military for various allegations and offences committed in the fight against terrorists.

They are being tried at the 9th Brigade Headquarters of the Nigerian Army, Ikeja, in Lagos State, South-West of Nigeria.

Many others are facing similar charges in different locations.

Sources say also that 118 soldiers have been transported from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to face charges for refusing to fight Boko Haram.

Most of the soldiers are accused of loss or misplacement of rifles during operations against Boko Haram and abandoning their weapons to the militants.

DEATH SENTENCES

Some of the soldiers were also being tried for alleged refusal to take part in the operation because the Army did not provide them with the required arms and ammunition.

Meanwhile, the death sentences on the soldiers has evoked the wrath of Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (Serap), an international human rights body.

Serap has asked a group of five United Nations human rights independent experts to stop Nigeria government and the military authorities from carrying out the death sentences.