Two weeks after 12 soldiers were sentenced to death for mutiny, the Nigerian Army has concluded arrangements to set up another court-martial to try yet another set of erring officers and soldiers.

Informed army sources disclosed that the soldiers are to be tried for various offences largely connected with the on-going war against the Boko Haram insurgency. They include indiscipline, information leakage to terrorists, failure to advance and perform military duties, acts of cowardice, negligence, abscondment from units on hearing that they were going to be deployed to the war zone, and other attitudes unbecoming of soldiers.

“It was reliably gathered that the court martial, which will be inaugurated tomorrow at the Command Army Officers Mess, Abuja, has Colonel M. S. Yusuf, as president of the court while Lieutenant-Colonel Ukpe Ukpe will serve as judge advocate,” says a Daily Sun report.

“It was also gathered that the affected officers and soldiers have duly been informed about the court-martial in official letters delivered to them last Thursday,” the report adds.

The army authorities were said to have advised the affected officers and soldiers to make arrangement for their legal counsel to defend them on the charges slammed on them.

The report, however, quotes sources as hinting that even though members of the court-martial would be officially inaugurated tomorrow, the court would not sit until after about two weeks because of the public holidays declared by the Federal Government for the Sallah celebrations.

News Express reports that a court martial presided over by Brig-Gen C. C. Okonkwo had in the night of September 15 sentenced 12 soldiers to death for mutiny. Four soldiers were also discharged and acquitted while one soldier was sentenced to 28 days imprisonment with hard labour.

The soldiers were arraigned before the court martial on a six-count charge of criminal conspiracy to commit mutiny, disobeying lawful orders and various acts inimical to military service.

•Photo shows the previous court martial in progress.

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