The Nigerian Army has sentenced three officers
and 13 other soldiers to two years’ imprisonment
each over the April 14, 2014 abduction of over
200 schoolchildren from their hostel in Chibok,
Borno State, by Boko Haram insurgents.
The soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel, a
Captain and a Second lieutenant, were
arraigned before a General Military Court Martial
at the Maxwell Khobe Military Cantonment,
Rukuba in Jos, Plateau State, in October 2014.
The officers are Col. A. O. Ojo, Capt. O. O.
Ogunrinde, and 2nd Lieutenant V.I. Godknows.
Although the trial started at the headquarters of
the 3rd Armoured Division of the Army in Jos,
the court was moved to Kaduna where the
judgment was delivered on Tuesday.
The GCM panel convened by the General Officer
Commanding I Division, Kaduna, Maj.Gen. K. C.
Osuji, comprised Brig. Gen. Ogunlade (President);
Col. J. O. Sokoya, Col. M. Kadiri, Col. M. W.
Abubakar, Col. A. A. Bamgbose, Col. A. Garba
and Col E.M . Albara
Our correspondent learnt on Tuesday that the
panel concluded that the prosecution was able to
prove the case against the soldiers.
But the Defence counsel to Col. Ojo, Mr. Shuaibu
Isah, told our correspondent on the telephone
that the judgment was a far cry from the
evidence presented before the court.
Isah said he would appeal against the
judgment to the confirming authority, which is
the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth
Minimah.
He said, “We are not satisfied with the judgment
of the court. We intend to file an appeal against
this verdict before the confirming authorities…”
A source at the court said that Ojo was
convicted on two counts of failing to reinforce
Chibok when it came under Boko Haram attack
on April 14 and for allegedly releasing
information without verification to the Army
authorities.
He said the “unverified information” caused the
Defence Headquarters to issue a ‘false’
statement on the release of the abducted girls.
The source added that Ojo, who was said to
have resumed duty the day before the attack,
had responded to the charge of failing to
reinforce Chibok by explaining that he got the
information on the Chibok attack at his location
in Biu by 1a.m.
The Lt. Col. was also said to have explained
that he had other operational issues such as
his inability to notify the nearby military
formation in Damboa.
On the charge that he gave unverified
information to the Army authorities, the officer
said he never gave any figure on the “rescued or
abducted girls.”
It was gathered that the lawyers to
Godknows told the court martial that their
client, who was charged with cowardly
behaviour, was at the Chibok location with 13
soldiers armed with AK 47 but with limited
rounds of ammunition to confront over 200
heavily armed Boko Haram fighters.
Another source said that Godknows left four
men to defend the camp while he took nine
others to confront the insurgents before pulling
back due to their high number and
overwhelming fire power.
The charges against the soldiers which centred
on failure to perform military duty carry a
maximum of two years imprisonment.
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