Mutiny: Army Retires Indicted Senior Officers

Written by Duncan Wednesday, 21 October 2009

At last, army officers implicated in the unpaid allowances of 27 soldiers of the 15th Battalion of the Nigerian Army who served in the United Nations (UN)?peace-keeping mission in Liberia have met their waterloo.

The four affected officers were yesterday compulsorily retired on administrative grounds, though the Army authorities did not reveal their identities. But the Commanding Officer of 72 Army Battalion, Makurdi, Col. A.A. Awotoye; Major Abubakar Shonva, who was the Deputy Director of Army Finance; Lt. Col. Paul Bala and Major C. Njoku were arraigned on charges of stealing, cheating and negligence of duty.

They were allegedly convicted. Also yesterday, the Army Council confirmed the sentences passed on officers convicted by the General Court Marshal, which tried the army personnel arraigned before it for mutiny in Akure in July 2008.  The 27 soldiers of the 15th Battalion that served in the UN peace-keeping mission in Liberia had protested on the streets of Akure on July 4 and 5 last year over their unpaid allowances.

They were court-martialed and the Army Headquarters had on August 29, 2009 confirmed the sentences passed on the 27 soldiers. But the sentence of life imprisonment given to all the convicted soldiers was commuted to seven years imprisonment. A statement issued yesterday by the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade, said the Army Council  noted that the implicated officers did not steal the money but rather misapplied the funds in that they paid the soldiers of 72 Battalion Makurdi the money meant for 312 Artillery Regiment, Akure.

Nonetheless, it considered the effect of their reduction in rank and various awards of loss of seniority as having negative implication on the morale and disposition of troops towards one another. The council therefore decided to separate them from the Army in the interest of justice, good order and discipline. Olukolade said in the statement: "While the Army appreciates the fact that the offenses committed by the officers are not in the least like the one committed by the soldiers, it nevertheless holds that they have remote connections, which though not legal, are related to their duty of superintendence over the soldiers.

Indeed, officers owe enormous responsibility in the discharge of their duties and the implication or cost of any negligence on their part is equally enormous and cannot be ignored. The inadvertence of the officers, which was connected with the conduct of the soldiers in Akure, was therefore noted as acts of negligence unbecoming of officers in their status. "The Army Council also confirmed the five other cases of Court Martial in addition to the case related with the mutiny cases of Akure," he added. Olukolade said by the law governing the Armed Forces, the confirmation of the Court Martial sentences for officer cadre is done by the Army Council while the respective Service Chiefs are to confirm for the soldiers.

"The confirmation of the cases of the officers has brought to conclusion the trial of all the cases that were either directly or remotely connected with the mutiny incident in Akure on 4 -5 July 2008. The records of proceedings of the respective cases have also been released to the convicts and or their counsel for their records". Meanwhile, the Army Council has approved the promotion of 261 officers and 9,658 soldiers. In the officers cadre, 129 Majors have been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonels and 132 Lieutenant Colonels to the rank Colonels.

The promotions were recommended after the officers were screened by the Promotion Boards which sits annually.  The  9,658 soldiers were made up of 3,194 Privates who are now Lance Corporals, 3,076 Lance corporals who are now Corporal and 2,255 Corporals promoted to Sergeant. A total of 658 Sergeants are now Staff Sergeants while 475 Staff Sergeants have been elevated to the rank of Warrant Officers.  Olukolade said the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau has directed that the promoted officers and soldiers be decorated immediately.

The Army Council is the body constitutionally empowered to take final decisions on major disciplinary cases, promotions and other career matters of army officers. It is presided over by the Honourable Minister of Defence.