General court martial: Appeal Court stops execution of soldiers

Justice Moore Adumien of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, ordered the stay of execution, following an application filed by Ameh Ebute.Recall that 18 soldiers, had on May 14, 2014, fired shots at the General Officer Commanding the 7 Division of Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Mohammmed, in Maiduguri, an act which is viewed in the […]

Justice Moore Adumien of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, ordered the stay of execution, following an application filed by Ameh Ebute.
Recall that 18 soldiers, had on May 14, 2014, fired shots at the General Officer Commanding the 7 Division of Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Mohammmed, in Maiduguri, an act which is viewed in the military as mutiny.
Out of the 18 persons, 13 were found guilty and five were discharged. While 12 were sentenced to death, one was sentenced to 28 years imprisonment with hard labour. Musa and Ahmed were amongst the 12 sentenced to death.
Ebute, through his chambers, Ameh Ebute & Co, had on September 24, 2014, appealed the judgement of the military tribunal.
Ebute filed an application of a stay of execution of the conviction, saying sections 183 and 184 of the Armed Forces Act, Cap A (20) of 2004, gives the convicted person a right of appeal within 10 days.
According to Ebute, a former Senate president, the duo of Musa and Ahmed are currently in an underground detention in Apapa, starved of food, in chains and not allowed to be seen by anybody.
Ebute further said: “We appeal to the military authorities through the Armed Forces office headquarters to please produce the record of proceeding to allow the court to hear the appeal expeditiously instead of suffering these people indefinitely.”
Ebute further said since they won’t be killed because the court has granted a stay of execution, they should be given food so that they won’t die before their appeal is determined.