The Nigerian Army on Thursday inaugurated a
General Court Martial at the Mogadishu
Cantonment at Asokoro in Abuja, to try 97 soldiers
for alleged mutiny.
15 of the soldiers are senior officers and that
Lagos-based lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, is appearing
for 68 of the accused soldiers.
They are also being charged with assault, Absence
Without Leave (AWOL), house breaking, conduct
prejudicial to good orders, service discipline and
other offences.
The court was inaugurated after none of the
accused soldiers raised objection to the
constitution of the 13-man panel.
The President of the court, Brig.-Gen. Musa Yusuf,
in an inaugural speech, assured the accused
soldiers that the court would be guided by the
principles of fair-hearing and justice.
“You shall be given the facilities and conditions
necessary for the proper defence of your cases.
“In line with the provisions of section 35(2) of the
1999 Constitution (as amended), every one of you
shall be presumed innocent by the court until
proved otherwise.
“Let me assure you that the GCM will base its
decisions and findings only on the facts presented
before it,’’ Yusuf said.
He appealed to journalists, in the interest of
national security, the accused soldiers, patriotism
and justice, to be fair and objective in reporting the
proceedings of the court.
Speaking to newsmen after the inauguration, Falana
said he reposed confidence in members of the
general court martial to do justice.
“I have taken part in a number of courts of this
nature and even where we lost, we have to go on
appeal and we succeeded; so, there is no cause for
alarm,’’ he said.
The trial of the soldiers was adjourned until Oct.
16.
It will be recalled that a similar panel had, on Sept.
16, sentenced 12 soldiers to death by firing squad
for mutiny. (NAN)
www.vanguardngr.com/2014/10/army-inaugurates-second-court-martial-to-try-97-soldiers-for-mutiny/