Mutiny: Have mercy on our soldiers

It was with grief and dismay that I read the story of the 12 soldiers who have been sentenced to death for alleged mutiny. They had protested alleged internal sabotage of the military in the ongoing war against the Boko Haram sect in the North-East.  The media was awash with the news that a military […]

It was with grief and dismay that I read the story of the 12 soldiers who have been sentenced to death for alleged mutiny. They had protested alleged internal sabotage of the military in the ongoing war against the Boko Haram sect in the North-East.  
The media was awash with the news that a military court sitting in Abuja had found 13 out of the 18 soldiers standing trial for mutiny and other offences guilty. Twelve of the convicted soldiers were sentenced to death, five were discharged and acquitted, while the remaining one was jailed for 28 days, with hard labour. The soldiers had, on May 14, 2014 fired shots at the General Officer Commanding the newly created 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Mohammmed. The court found them guilty of criminal conspiracy, mutiny and attempt to commit murder, insubordination and false accusation.
It is unfortunate that the soldiers, who have given their lives (many of them have lost their lives on the battle field) in a bid to protect the nation’s sovereignty, have been condemned to death by the same nation they want to protect, just because of an action seen as insubordination. As expected, the death sentence has generated reactions from well-meaning Nigerians.
 Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has also questioned the death sentence on the ground that the 18 soldiers were erroneously charged under section 52(1) of the Armed Forces Act Cap A20 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. According to him, “Fortunately, the General Officer Commanding, whose car was shot at, was not killed. Hence, the soldiers were charged with attempted murder, which does not attract the death penalty.
“In the circumstance, the 12 convicts should have been charged under section 52(2) of the Armed Forces Act, which provides for life imprisonment. In the case of the Akure 27, the convicted soldiers were equally charged with mutiny but convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.”
In a similar vein, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) also condemned the death sentence. While applauding the efforts of the military in maintaining discipline, the TUC insisted that death sentence was off the mark.
It must be said that the accused soldiers are human who are capable of becoming agitated when their colleagues were killed as a result of carelessness of the federal government, which was represented by the GOC so attacked. In any case, why was the GOC in question recalled and immediately retired?
The fact that these soldiers are more interested in defending the nation than pursuing personal gains should be placed above every military legal consideration. So do not kill the soldiers, please.
Moshood Isah wrote from Abuja