Aiding Boko Haram: Army Court-martials 10 Generals, 5 Others

   

No fewer than 15 senior military officers including 10 generals have been tried before a court-martial and found guilty of giving information and ammunition to Boko Haram terrorists. In the recent past, the Army and the Defence headquarters have raised the alarm that some of their officers and men are leaking official information to the terrorists and that some of them have been arrested and arraigned before some court-martials in some army divisions in the north.

Military sources told LEADERSHIP that some of them who were tried at their division levels still have hope until the final review of the judgement at the headquarters in Abuja.

“There are a lot of arrests that have been made over some officers who were sabotaging the ongoing counter-insurgency operations. The suspects include about 10 generals and other ranks, not to talk of soldiers who have been found culpable of sabotaging our operations. They are facing trial before court-martials set up by their divisions; some have been found guilty, and some are still facing trial. Once the court martial rule, the recommendations are forwarded to the Army Headquarters or Defence Headquarters as the case may be,” a source disclosed. Another top security source told our correspondent that four senior soldiers were found guilty of being disloyal and for working for the members of the sect.

“Four generals have been court-martialed for divulging high-class security information to the members of the sect. They were found guilty of leaking military strategies to the Boko Haram people. This was why many soldiers have been ambushed and killed by the Boko Haram,” the source added.
Our source who could not disclose the names of these generals simply said some senior military officers and soldiers from a particular section of the country are deeply involved in the treasonable acts.

“They have been found guilty of also collaborating with some top politicians in the country to make the country ungovernable for selfish reasons. A lot of re-organisation is going on in the military. Many generals will go. Some will be court-martialed and some will be forcefully retired,” he added. “The movement of our troops in the north-east have been leaked to the Boko Haram by many of our colleagues, but the Defence headquarters has realized that and is seriously considering redeployment of some senior officers out of the north-east.”

The army had, on Sept. 19, 2013, said its 3 Division had set up a general martial court to try erring officers and soldiers. During a press briefing, the then director, army public relations, Brigadier General Ibrahim Attahiru, said the new court would instil discipline and professionalism among its troops based on Army Headquarters’ directives.

The court under general commanding officer Ebiobowei Awala was inaugurated on April 22 at Rhino Officers Mess, Maxwell Khobe Cantonment, Jos, and has tried nine soldiers for various offences ranging from murder to manslaughter. But it was not clear at the time of fielding this report whether the generals were court -martialed by the same court.

Although efforts to confirm from the Defence Headquarters’ spokesman, Major General Chris Olukolade, did not yield any result, a top serving general in the DHQ said a lot of trials were indeed going on: “A lot is happening. Those suspected are being tried, and this is why it is difficult to confirm or deny the story. But whenever the final verdicts are taken on these trials, the press would be briefed by the appropriate officers.”