The Nigerian Army has dismissed 203 soldiers after a
secret court martial held in the dead of the night, for
allegedly disobeying a direct order from their
commanding officer, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.

One of the sacked soldiers, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, said the soldiers were dismissed for asking
for support equipment, following the army’s plan to
convey them in a tipper for an operation in Bama and
Gwoza, two strongholds of Boko Haram insurgents.

The soldier, who is originally of the 19th Battalion in
Okitipupa in Ondo State, but attached to the 7th division
in Maiduguri, said the army detained them for over 90
days before dismissing them after a midnight trial. He
said they are owed up to five months in unpaid salaries.
Narrating the event that led to their dismissal, the soldier
said his unit reconvened in Maiduguri last August, after
they were dislodged by the insurgents in Damboa in an
operation where their commanding officer and several
other soldiers were killed.

He said they were given two weeks pass and that at the
expiration of their pass, they were issued new uniforms,
boots and 30 rounds of bullets each as opposed to the
statutory 60 rounds. And were going to be conveyed in a
tipper lorry to Gwoza and Bama for an operation.

He said having engaged the insurgents in several past
battles, majority of the soldiers argued that the operation
would be fierce, and therefore requested support
equipment.

“So we asked for support weapons. No support weapon
was provided. Our CO (Commanding Officer) said he
would discuss with the GOC (General Officer
Commanding) of the 7 Division at the headquarters.
When he came back, he said we should stand down. We
thought all was well,” our source said.


But the request made by the soldiers fetched them more
than they bargained for.
The next day their new CO, Mohammed A, a lieutenant
colonel from 195 battalion, Agenebode, ordered them to
submit their weapons and uniforms or be charged with
mutiny.

“On the morning of 16 of August, after the GOC briefing,
our commander started calling our names and he said
anyone whose name is called should submit their
uniform and weapon. He added that anyone who failed
to do that would be charged for mutiny. We were
surprised at what was happening.

“He started from the most senior soldier among us, a
warrant officer who had served for almost 30 years. They
asked us to go back to the barrack. It is a war zone and
our weapons had been taken from us. Staying around
was of no use so we left Maiduguri back home.”
The next order from the army hierarchy was for the
soldiers to report to the 4th Brigade headquarters in
Benin where they were detained for three months.


“They kept us in the fenced field at the officers’ mess in
4th battalion headquarters. When we first arrived at
Benin they took statements from us and took it to
Maiduguri. The original charge against us was for
deserting but after our statements were taken they
changed the charge to disobedient to particular order.
They said we disobeyed the CO’s order. They seized our
phones, we couldn’t communicate with our families for
the 90 days we were kept in detention,” our source said.
After they were released on December 24, they were
conveyed to their various units. The soldier said on
getting to their units, a court martial was set up at about
11.30 p.m. where they were tried and dismissed. He said
the next morning, they were evicted from the barrack
with their families.


“It was dismissal without benefits. After 17 years in
service. Even people that served for 30 years were
dismissed without benefits. We had no legal
representation.”
Army spokesperson, Olajide Laleye, a Brigadier General,
could not be reached for comments on Thursday. Calls
and messages to his telephone were not answered or
returned.

The dismissal of the 203 soldiers followed a wave of
court-martialling of other soldiers for mutiny and other
offences.
On December 24, a military court-martial that sat in Abuja
sentenced four soldiers to death by firing squad for
alleged mutiny.


That judgment came just about a week after another
batch of 54 soldiers were condemned to death for
refusing to fight the deadly Boko Haram sect.
The 54 soldiers belonged to the 111 Special Forces
battalion attached to the 7 division of the army in
Maiduguri. They are to die by firing squad, the military
court ruled.

The soldiers were accused of disobeying a direct order
from superior officers to take part in an operation aimed
at dislodging Boko Haram terrorists from Delwa,
Bulabulin and Damboa in Borno State.

The soldiers said they refused to take part in the
operation because the Army did not provide them with
the required combat and support equipment needed for
such operations.


Earlier, in September, 12 soldiers were sentenced to
death for allegedly shooting at a car conveying their
commanding officer, Ahmed Mohammed, a Major
General.

The attack occurred May 14 at the army’s 7 Division,
Maimalari Barracks in Maiduguri, headed at the time by
Mr. Mohammed.
Others were also sentenced to life in jail for criminal
conspiracy and attempt to commit murder.
The soldiers revolted after some of their colleagues were
ambushed and killed by Boko Haram extremists, an
attack they blamed their commander for.
Yet, more soldiers remain on trial for their conducts in
the fight against the extremist sect, and face being
sentenced to death.


On December 23, another batch of 118 soldiers were
transported from Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to
face charges in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

this
It is not clear when the troops would be arraigned before
the military court, but our sources said unlike their
colleagues who were convicted December 17, the 118
soldiers are accused of offences less than mutiny.
Also, 22 top officers, including a brigadier general, are
being held at the Ikeja Military Cantonment in Lagos,
preparatory to being arraigned for yet unclear offences.
They could not be arraigned on December 22 because
the court was not properly constituted.


Their arraignment has now been scheduled for a date in
January.


The convicted soldiers, apart from the four that were
sentenced December 24, have been moved to Lagos to
await appeal, pardon or execution.



Source; saharareporters.com/2015/01/01/nigerian-army-dismisses-203-soldiers-after-secret-night-trial

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We d find soldiers n una still d dismiss the ones wey dy

Some people are insane o, do they think it is easy to get soldiers. They are now dismissing the little ones they have

Why not just punish them ? Why dismissal without benefits? They want to create more miscreants in the society? What is the boko harams could reach them and employ them as mercenaries for an offer they can't afford to reject? I pity this country, corruption everywhere even our military

Oh God! Please deliver this nation from this era of terror.

News like this breaks my heart. Common these guys only made a request and now they being dismissed. That GOC should be arrested and jailed.

Corruption in d army.... someone is taking their money.... Na only God go help naija. smh