The special court martial recently instituted by the Nigerian military to try two Major-generals brings back memories of the several prosecutions that happened in the previous administration. Senator Iroegbu writes
The Nigerian military authorities last week inaugurated a Special Court Martial sitting at the Army Headquarters, Garrison, Abuja, to adjudicate on a case between the Nigerian Army and two accused senior officers, Major-general Ibrahim Sani and Major-general Patrick Falola.
The trial of Sani, who is a former commander, Army Transformation and Innovation Centre, and Falola, the former commander, 68 Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, came as a shock to many because it was a marked departure from the posture of the current administration.
It is on record that the current Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has since assumption of office embarked on the reversal of the sentences handed down on several officers and soldiers during the tenure of his predecessor, Lt-Gen. Kenneth Minimah.
The only court martial that has sat under Buratai is the one that tried Brig-Gen. Enitan Ransom-Kuti, who was sentenced to six months imprisonment and dismissal from service. But unlike the on-going trial of the two Major-generals, whose offence are yet to be ascertained, Ransom-Kuti’s trial started before the Buratai era.
Gale of Courts Martial
Minimah, in response to the escalation of Boko Haram terrorism in parts of the North-east, established several General Courts Martial that tried and convicted over 5, 000 officers and soldiers. The former COAS had in the wake of several reversals and loss of territories promised to set up more GCM to try erring soldiers and check indiscipline among troops engaged in the counter-terrorism operations against the Boko Haram terrorists.
Minimah was quoted as saying, “The Army is taking all proactive measures to restore sanity and battle confidence to troops,” adding that soldiers and officers who run away during the operations will be court-martialled. He frowned on acts of sabotage and cowardice among troops. The former COAS lamented that some soldiers had joined the Army to own property, while others joined for employment.
He said, “I must set up court martial and if you are in my place and you did nothing you are not worth being a Chief of Army Staff. I did that I have no regret.
“I am setting up more courts martial to try people who ran, showed cowardice, abandoned troops and equipment and ran away. Why are you in the Army? Is that Army? That is not the Army.”
He said any solider who could not fight for his country should not exist, adding that the oath of allegiance of the military demands that a soldier should fight.
Over 5,000 personnel of the Nigerian Army were either imprisoned, retired or dismissed as a measure to restore order and discipline needed to rout the marauding terrorists.
Reversal
But barely one month after taking over from Minimah, Buratai directed a review of some of the disciplinary and court-martial cases, especially those handled under his immediate predecessor. Speaking on the issue, Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, noted that the Nigerian Army was “reviewing all recent disciplinary cases due to the wave of litigations and petitions by some aggrieved personnel.”
Minimah had made discipline through the courts martial one of the cardinal strategies to restore confidence and professionalism in the Army, a strategy his successor had initially vowed to sustain.
The former COAS had during his formal handover to Buratai attributed his achievements to collective effort and discipline instituted within the rank and file of the Nigerian Army through the court martial processes across the country.
He said: “The success did not come cheap. It came with the sweat and blood of all of us. In the face of unusual events we had to take unusual actions. Some may adjudge us as being too strict, especially in dealing with cases of cowardice and indiscipline in the fiel
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