The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday said
it would not plead with the Nigerian Army to spare the lives of 12 soldiers
recently sentenced to death for mutiny.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on
Defence, George Sekibo, said this in Abuja after a closed-door meeting with the
nation’s service chiefs.
The service chiefs were led to the
high-profile meeting, which lasted over three hours, by the Chief of Defence
Staff, Alex Badeh.
Briefing journalists after the
meeting, Mr. Sekibo said the senate was not under pressure to intervene to save
the lives of the soldiers because the judgment convicting them was in the best
interest of the Nigerian military.
“No we are not (under pressure)
because the Armed Forces is established by an Act of the National Assembly.
“The Act spelt out categorically the
conduct of soldiers and the way they are to behave wherever they are.
“If you join the military that Act
is to guide you and your conduct.
“If you go contrary to any of the
prescribed sections of the Act the punishment prescribed for the Act you
violated will come on you.
“So the military did not just wake
up one day and say that they are going to kill Mr A or Mr B.
“They (military) went through the
necessary processes and they found them guilty,” he said.
The committee chairman however said
that those found guilty could go on appeal and the rulings from the appeal
would be binding on them.
“But I think that those found guilty
also have a way out. They can go on appeal and if the appeal finds them not
guilty that will be it.
“But for what the military has done,
they have done the best thing because you must instil discipline in the Armed
Forces.
“If you don’t do so one day all of
us here will be sacked and you will not hear of this place again,” he said.
Mr. Sekibo called on Nigerians to
encourage the military to ensure that it discharged its duties effectively.
The 12 Nigerian soldiers were on
September 16, sentenced to death for mutiny after firing shots at their
commanding officer, Abubakar Mohammed, in Maiduguri on May 14.
A nine-member military tribunal,
sitting in Abuja, convicted the soldiers.
Court president Chukwuemeka Okonkwo
said the sentences were subject to confirmation by Nigeria’s military
authorities but added there was no doubt about the gravity of the offence.
But while the Senate believes the
soldiers deserve to die, the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, is pleading with the Nigerian Army to lighten the death sentence.
The Acting President of the Union,
Promise Adewusi, made the appeal at a news conference to express the view of
the union on the verdicts passed on the soldiers.
The union said that in view of the
numerous challenges confronting the military hierarchy, the execution of the
convicts would not in any way restore discipline in the army.
Mr. Adewusi said although the
convictions could not be faulted legally, the death sentence was harsh and
unacceptable.
“We expect that the Military Council
or the appropriate authority, whose responsibility it is to review sentences of
this nature, should commute this sentence to a more tolerable or acceptable
one.’’
Mr. Adewusi said the appeal was hinged
on the fact that the execution of the soldiers, rather than restore discipline,
“could sow the seed of a major security problem in the armed forces”.
He said that in confronting the
nation’s lingering security challenges, it was important that commanders earned
the confidence of their troops.
Mr. Adewusi said: “Nowhere is
cohesion needed more than in the armed forces, especially in conflict period.”
He urged the military hierarchy to
ensure that the ongoing war on terror was waged in a more transparent and
coordinated manner.
“We are urging the military
authorities to commute the death sentence on the 12 to a lighter sentence.
“As part of the process of
addressing the conflicts and crises in our armed forces, we demand that the war
be prosecuted in a more transparent, humane and orderly manner,’’ he said.
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