‘Mutiny in Maiduguri’

Just a few days into the New Year Boko Haram has already struck twice with devastating effect in Baga, Borno State, a small town that serves as the base for the Multi-National Joint Task Force which was set up in 1998 to fight trans-border crime in the Lake Chad region and is made up of troops from Nigeria, Chad and Niger. Baga has become totally deserted with residents fleeing to Chad and Maiduguri, with the number of displaced Nigerians escalating by the day. Basically the entire news coming from the north east on a daily basis indicates that there is indeed a full blown war going on in our country, with no end in sight. The soldiers fighting this war have been facing major challenges and during the course of 2014 quite a number of these soldiers had to face court martial for mutiny. The first batch of 12 soldiers were accused of insurrection and firing at the utility vehicle of their General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 7 Division, Ahmadu Mohammed and were sentenced to death. The second group of soldiers were said to have conspired to commit mutiny against the authorities of the 7 Division on August 4, at the Mulai Primary School camp Maiduguri, Borno State. The accused soldiers had refused to join the 111 Special Forces Battalion troops commanded by Lt. Col Timothy Opurum, for an operation, even after he had assured them that they could achieve the task given to them, though the insurgents were said to have out-numbered them and had far superior weapons.

The soldiers were said to have committed an offence in this instance punishable under Section 52(1) (a) of the Armed Forces Act Cap A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.They were charged with conspiracy to mutiny before a court martial on the allegation that they disobeyed orders to join operations against the extremist group, Boko Haram. All the accused soldiers pleaded not guilty to the charges but 58 soldiers were thereafter sentenced to death to the outrage of Nigerians who condemned the death sentences and have demanded that it be suspended. The offence proved against the accused soldiers was that they demanded adequate weapons to fight the well –equipped Boko Haram sect. Mutiny has been described as a criminal conspiracy among a group of people (typically members of the military; or the crew of any ship, even if they are civilians) to openly oppose, change or overthrow a lawful authority to which they are subject. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among members of the military against their superior officer(s), but can also occasionally refer to any type of rebellion against an authority figure. The Armed Forces Act provides for mutiny in section 52(1) – for all person(s) subject to service law under this Act who – “(a) takes part in a mutiny…is guilty of an offence under this subsection and liable, on conviction by a court-martial, to suffer death.”

The worst thing a soldier can do is mutiny and the penalty is always fittingly severe. The question here is, was there evidence of mutiny? Yes, as they disobeyed a lawful order. We all know that the military necessarily revolves around its laws, rules, regulations and orders. Whether the soldiers have a right to protest or not is not the issue here. The main bone of contention is whether the military is indeed fully or even appropriately equipped to fight the Boko Haram insurgency in the first place. The military has not at least since this war became fully blown exhibited anything to show that they can match their opponents by any form, be it in terms of helicopters, attack aircraft, armoured cars or whatever. There is also clear evidence to show that the government has been desperately shopping for much needed additional weaponry. Sometime last year the South African authorities were said to have confiscated US $5.7 million arms money from Nigeria and a few weeks before that they seized $9.3 million in cash transported by two Nigerians and an Israeli for arms purchases.

The Nigerian government later admitted it was behind the arms deal, claiming it acted out of desperation for arms to defeat Boko Haram. President Goodluck Johnathan in his New Year speech further said that ‘we are re-equipping and re-positioning our armed forces to enhance their capacity to win the ongoing war against terror and insurgency’. Even last Thursday at the President’s re-election campaign launch in Lagos he talked about insecurity in the country and that one of the major problems is that we do not have the necessary equipment in the military; that those who came before him failed to equip the military in a remotely appropriate manner that there were no helicopters or any such on ground. He also stated pointedly that no country equips its military overnight. All these admissions are more than enough evidence to prove that there is undoubtedly something badly amiss in the military. Moreover the failure to win this war (or even more tangible progress) is causing more than enough embarrassment to the Government.

These soldiers who have been sentenced to death before a court martial do have a right of appeal by virtue of Section 240 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which states that ‘subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Court of Appeal shall have jurisdiction to the exclusion of any other court of law in Nigeria, to hear and determine appeals from…….the decisions of a court martial or other tribunals as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.’ One thing is for certain: we have not heard the last of this case of the convicted soldiers