The Nigeria Army has inaugurated a Court-martial in Maiduguri where 158 alleged erring soldiers, including officers serving in the frontline under Operation Hadin Kai, are expected to undergo trial.
Out of the 158 military personnel for arraignment are 28 officers, including a Brigadier General and 130 soldiers.
Inaugurating the Court-Martial at the Maimalari Cantonment on Saturday, the Theatre Commander Operation Hadin Kai, Major General Christopher Musa, informed that 158 military personnel would be tried in three separate courts-martial.
According to him, soldiers would be tried under one special court-martial and two separate general courts-martial.
He explained that the Special Court-Martial will handle infractions that are completely military-related while the general court-martial deals with offences that are civil in nature.
He added that the General Court Martial-1 and the Special Court-Martial would be sitting in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, while the General Court Martial-2 would be sitting I Damaturu, Yobe State and will be inaugurated on Monday in Yobe State .
The Theatre Commander said the court-martial were set up by the military to “deal with matters that pertain to the regimentation, discipline and general misconduct of troops, as a means of enforcing internal discipline.”
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He said the operations of the military is governed by the Constitution and laws of the Armed Forces.
He charged members of the three separate court-martial to discharge their duties “diligently without fear or favour, and to ensure justice is served to victims, accused and the State whose laws are alleged to have been violated.”
The theater commander regretted that the accused officers and soldiers were standing trials but added the needful must be done for the interests of justice.
“It is not easy to see an officer or commander who has sacrificed his or her life to be in the front being prosecuted.
“Anybody that is here has sacrificed himself to be here. And we must sustain discipline. That is why the court must do the needful, apply the rules, follow the laws and ensure that justice is done to all,” he stressed.
The General Court Martial-1 is to be headed by Major General Bainze Mohammed while the Special Court-martial will be headed by Brigadier General Dominic Udofa as President.