The court martial sitting at the 3 Armoured Division and trying Brig. Gen. Muraina Raji has heard that the measures put in the Wetland detention facilities were enough to prevent the escape of the Boko Haram suspects. but that if the guard soldiers decided to compromise, there was nothing that could be done by any officer.

Giving evidence, the second witness, Captain Mohammed Nura, an intelligence officer with the 33 Artillery Brigade in Bauchi, being led by the military prosecution headed by Lt. Col. A.A Ariyibi, Nura said also that if soldiers guarding detainees at the facility decide to compromise, escape could be carried out.

“I think the measures put in place were enough to have prevented the unfortunate incident. However, if the guard soldiers decided to compromise, there is nothing we can do,” he said.
Captain Nura told the prosecution that the Wetland detention facility, from where the two detainees escaped, were well fortified. He also confirmed that the other suspects, who were arrested in connection with Boko Haram activities, had earlier been released to the military police before the escape of the present detainees.

In his further evidence-in-chief, Nura told the court martial that when the accused officer, Brigadier-General Muraina Raji, went on an official assignment to Darazo Local Government in Bauchi State, he (Nura) informed the garrison commander of the escape of the two suspects because General Raji was not around at the time of their escape.

Cross-examined by the lead defence counsel, Mr. Femi Falana, the witness admitted that if the instruction given to the guards were duly followed, the escape of the detainees would not have taken place “because other suspects have been kept there without escape.”
Asked by Falana whether in all his situation reports to the military authorities he ever referred to the two suspects as high profile suspects, the witness answered in the negative. He also revealed that they were in the process of getting local welders to manufacture leg chains for the suspects before their escape.

When Falana asked if it is the practice in the military to manufacture leg chains, he said it was not the practice, but that they had to resort to that as there were no leg chains in the guardroom.
On whether the Brigade would have prevented the escape of the detainees, Nura replied thus: “I think the measures put in place were enough to have presented the unfortunate incident. However, if the guard soldiers decided to compromise, there is nothing we can do.”
General Raji is facing the court martial for his alleged role in the escape of the two suspects from the Wetland detention facility in Bauchi.

http://sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/sept/03/national-03-09-2011-003.html