A batch of 22 army officers is set to be court-
martialed in Lagos in connection with recent
military failures in the northeast of Nigeria.
The court, set up by the Major General Tibi, the
General Officer Commanding the 81 Division of
the Nigerian army, will take place at the Officer’s
mess of the Military Cantonment in Ikeja. The
five-man panel will be headed by Brigadier-
General CO Ayara.
In the dock will be mainly those officers recently
alleged to have abandoned the frontline of the
military operations in Adamawa State as Boko
Haram militants invaded Mubi and overran
Vimtim, the hometown of the Chief of Defense
Staff, Alex Badeh. It is alleged that the officers
did not lift a finger against the insurgents.
SaharaReporters investigations about the officers
facing trial indicate that the suspects include:
• Colonel Victor Ebhaleme, who briefly acted
as the Brigade Commander of the 23rd Brigade
in Yola;
• Lt. Colonel AO Agwu, who was the
commander of the soldiers from the 234
battalion that fled Mubi on October 29;
• Captain S Raymond, who was the officer
commanding and platoon leader of the Vimtim
team guarding the home town of the CDS. He is
alleged to have fled with his team as Boko
Haram invaded Vimtim on October 28; and
• Lt. Col A A Egbejule, who allegedly burnt
several brand new armored tanks as the
insurgents overwhelmed his team in a fierce
fight between Bassa and Michika; he reportedly
fled afterward.
The officers had been in various military police
detention centers before their arraignment today
in Lagos.
Their arraignment follows the death sentence
passed on 59 soldiers by a military court at the
Mogadishu barracks in Abuja last week. The
condemned soldiers were moved into a military
detention facility in Apapa Lagos yesterday; they
have not been fed since arriving, they are being
held at an underground detention facility
according to our sources.
Several of the officers have denied the charges
against them, claiming that inadequate
equipment and high-level corruption at the top of
the military hierarchy are largely responsible for
their inability to properly engage Boko Harm
militants.
Meanwhile, some 2000 troops accused of
abandoning the battlefront in Adamawa are
currently sequestered in Jos awaiting transfer to
their different units where they will also be court-
martialed for various offenses. The soldiers,
who were brought in from Yola, are being held
under inhumane conditions at the Maxwell Khobe
Cantonment at the 3rd division of the Nigerian
army in Jos. The soldiers are mostly from 234
battalion, 116 battalion, Army HQ Team ‘A” and
213 battalion.
They remain in Jos subjected to grueling manual
labor, denied their allowances while they await
repatriation to their respective units to face
further disciplinary action.
SaharaReporters learned that another set of 199
soldiers have been taken to Abuja to face court
martial in the next few weeks.
At today’s arraignment of officers in Ikeja, some
of the military judges were absent thereby
forcing the court to adjourn commencement of
trial till January 16, 2015. Prominent Nigerian
human rights activist , Femi Falana, will act as
defense attorney to several of the officers.
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