Reprieve may have come the way of the
54 Nigerian soldiers sentenced to death
by a military court martial in Abuja as the
United Nations (UN) has said it is
considering appropriate action, including
conferring with President Goodluck
Jonathan, against their imminent
execution.
This is coming just as Lagos lawyer and
human rights activist, Chief Femi Falana
(SAN), has again pleaded with the chief of
army staff, Lt-Gen Kenneth Minimah, who
is the confirming authority of the soldiers’
death penalty, to quash their conviction
and sentence.
He contended that the army’s top
hierarchy was merely “covering up its
weaknesses by court-martialing these
soldiers.”
The planned appropriate action of the UN,
which was confirmed by the office of the
UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial,
Arbitrary or Summary Executions, headed
by Mr Christof Heyns, followed a petition
submitted to it by the Socio-Economic
Rights and Accountability Project
(SERAP).
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