Army commutes soldiers’ death sentence

The Nigerian Army on Saturday commuted the death sentence handed to 66 soldiers earlier this year to 10 years imprisonment.

The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, said this in a statement on Saturday.

The 66 out of 72 soldiers tried for mutiny and other charges were sentenced to death by firing squad by military special courts between January and March this year.

The statement said the cases of other soldiers were being reviewed and would be made public once the reviews are completed.

The decision to commute the soldiers’ sentence, the statement said, was taken after thorough consideration of petitions by concerned citizens.

The petitions caused the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, to order a legal review of the cases, it added.

The statement reads:

“The soldiers were arraigned on several count charges that include criminal conspiracy, conspiracy to commit mutiny, mutiny, attempt to commit an offence (murder), disobedience to particular orders, insubordinate behaviour and false accusation, among others.

“They were tried, discharged on some charges but found guilty and convicted on other charges which included mutiny. Out of the number, 66 were found guilty on some of the count charges and sentenced to death, while five were discharged and acquitted and one was given 28 days imprisonment with hard labour.

“The directive was carried out to examine the merit of each case. It was on the basis of the review and recommendations that the Chief of Army Staff commuted the death sentence of the 66 soldiers to 10 years jail term. The sentences are to run concurrently.”