soldiers » sentenced to death for their part in the mutiny that took place in the
Maimalari Military Cantonment in Maiduguri, Borno State, in the heat of the
Boko Haram insurgency, the Nigerian Senate has declared that it would not
plead with the Nigerian Army to spare the lives of soldiers, because they
deserve the death sentence » passed on them by the military court martial.
The position of the Senate was made known by the Chairman, Senate Committee
on Defence, George Sekibo, in a closed-door meeting with the top military
officers led by the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh.
The Senate went further to say that executing the soldiers is in the best interest
of the Nigerian military.
Briefing journalists after the meeting, Mr. Sekibo said the senate was not under
pressure to intervene to save the lives of the soldiers:
No, we are not under pressure because the Armed Forces is
established by an Act of the National Assembly. The Act spelt out
categorically the conduct of soldiers and the way they are to behave
wherever they are. If you join the military that Act is to guide you and your
conduct.
If you go contrary to any of the prescribed sections of the Act, the
punishment prescribed for the Act you violated will come on you.
So the military did not just wake up one day and say that they are
going to kill Mr A or Mr B. They (military) went through the
necessary processes and they found them guilty.
Recall that 12 Nigerian soldiers, now famously called Maiduguri 12, were
sentenced to death by a military court martial on September 16, 2014, for an
offence of mutiny after firing shots at their commanding officer, Maj. Gen.
Abubakar Mohammed, in Maiduguri on May 14.
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