The Nigerian Army will on October 15 begin the trial of 15 officers and 82 soldiers for incidents of mutiny, desertion of duty and insubordination, which took place during the war against terror in the North-east.
Trial begins Oct 15
We killed ‘Shekau’s Impostor’, military insists
President meets service chiefs
This follows the inauguration of the General Court Martial (GCM) under the leadership of Brig-Gen. Musa Yusuf as president and Lt-Col. Ukpe Ukpe as the Judge Advocate (JA).
Apart from Yusuf, other members of the GCM inaugurated yesterday at the Army Headquarters Garrison, Mogadishu Cantonment in Abuja, included: Col. UI Mohammed, Col. ML Ibrahim, Col. R Abubakar, Col. MM Bunza, Col. JD Gontor, Col. KN Garba, Col. BR Abimiku and Col. GA Ugwueze, while waiting members are Col. AT Ibrahim and Lt-Col. VO Olatunji.
The prosecuting officers include Capt. JA Orumor and Capt. RS Agwai.
Speaking before the formal swearing-in of the GCM team, Ukpe asked if the defence council or any of the accused had any objection to the GCM as was constituted.
Responding, most of the defence counsel including Femi Falana (SAN) raised objections over the qualification of Ukpe to preside over the case since Ukpe doubles also as an Assistant Director, Legal Services at the AHQ Garrison.
Falana wanted to know if the JA had in anyway in his capacity been involved in the investigation or framing of the charges, which could mean that he must have taken a position that might jeopardise the trial.
Other defence counsel supported Falana’s position by objecting to the membership of Ukpe as the JA, saying he cannot be a judge in his own case.
Apart from the JA, some other issues the defence team wanted resolved was that defence lawyers must be properly served, were entitled to know the charges, must be given the charge sheets more than 24 hours before the trial date, and that they must also be granted access to their clients (the accused).
In his defence, however, Ukpe said his appointment had not in anyway violated the three cardinal principles under which he could be disqualified, saying he was neither the commanding officer of the accused when the alleged crimes were committed, nor was he involved in the investigation of the case and was never a member of the board of inquiry.
In the same vein, the prosecuting counsel insisted that the composition of the GCM was in order, explaining that the Nigerian Army adheres strictly to the division of labour where the Department of Military Police with its competent lawyers handles all cases, investigations and charges without input from the Legal Services Department and by extension the JA.
Speaking after his swearing-in, the president of the GCM said from the records made available by the prosecution, a total of 97 accused persons including 16 officers were listed for trial for various offences.
He classified the offences committed by the accused into mutiny, assault, absence without leave (AWOL), house breaking, conduct prejudicial to good orders and service discipline, and offences relating to service property, among others.
Musa also assured the accused persons that in line with Section 35(5) of the 1999 Constitution, they shall be presumed innocent by the court until it is proved otherwise, adding that the GCM would be guided throughout the trial by the principles of fair hearing and justice.
He said: “You shall be given facilities and conditions necessary for the proper defence of your cases. Let me further assure you that the GCM will base its decisions and findings on the facts presented before it. In other words, this court will not give room for or be influenced by any extraneous matter which is not presented before this court.”
Speaking further, the president laid emphasis on the court’s intention to conduct and conclude the case without undue or unnecessary delay.
The 15 officers who were arraigned yesterday are: Lt-Col. SS Tilawan (N/10371), Lt-Col. DB Danzang (N/10414), Lt-Col. IC Ogamanya (N/10414), Lt-Col. SU Abubakar (N/10489), Maj. II Sakaba (N/10744), Capt. M Hamadikko (N/11565), Capt. Z Alhaji (N/12086), Capt MB Abdullahi (N/12965), Capt SY Musa (N/13311) and Lt- T Garba (N/13311).
Others were Lt. F Ogunleke (N/13598), Lt. A Abdullahi (N/13657), Lt. IM Okoro (N/13674), Lt. D Wunuji (N/13685) and Sec-Lt. JM Uweh (N/15173).
‘Shekau’s Impostor is Dead’
Meanwhile, the military has dismissed the new video purportedly released by “Abubakar Shekau” in which he debunked his killing during a battle in Konduga, Borno State, on September 17.
Despite its insistence on Shekau’s death and that of his double, the release of the video was enough reason to prompt an emergency security meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the service chiefs behind closed doors.
Our sources in the presidency confirmed that the video of Shekau formed the fulcrum of the meeting. However, the service chiefs refused to speak to the media at the end of the meeting.
In a video released to AFP yesterday, the leader of Boko Haram or his impostor mocked the military and dismissed claims of his death, boasting that his members had implemented strict Islamic law in captured towns in the North-east.
“Here I am, alive. I will only die the day Allah takes my breath,” Shekau said, adding that his group was “running our… Islamic Caliphate” and administering strict sharia punishments.
The Nigerian military and its counterpart in Cameroun had both laid claims to killing Shekau or his impostor.
But the Defence Headquarters (DHQ), in a statement posted yesterday on its blog, insisted that Shekau’s impostor Bashir Mohammed was as a matter of fact killed last month, using as evidence still photographs, videos, the surrender and captured terrorists in Konduga.
DHQ said it was studying the claim made in the video purportedly released by the terrorists showing their leader Shekau dismissing his death.
According to the military, from immediate observation and what some online news outlets claimed to have seen, the video did not indicate when it was shot neither did it show any proof of life or currency such as screen time or date.
It noted that the video also did not make any reference to anything that had happened since the impostor’s reported death.
The statement further read: “It is also noteworthy that the airplane said to have been mentioned in the video had been missing before he was killed.
“It should not surprise anybody if the terrorists decide to manipulate pictures, clone another Shekau or upload a pre-recorded video all in a bid to prove he is invincible.
“As far as we are concerned, the individual who was appearing in the video and claiming to be the leader of the terrorist group was killed in the Konduga battle in September.
“The resemblance of the corpse and that of the eccentric character was incontrovertible. His identity was equally corroborated by people who knew him before we announced his death.”
While still conducting thorough investigation into the new claims in the purported video, the military promised that justice would be served to whoever bears that name or designation and whoever engages in acts of terrorism.
It further stated what it believes is a growing Western conspiracy and gang-up against the military using the foreign media to malign the Nigerian Armed Forces and security system while magnifying the actions of Boko Haram and Camerounian forces.
“We are not comfortable with the propensity of some news media, especially foreign-based ones to fall for the antics of Boko Haram propaganda.
“You can see that no matter what, foreign elements and their local partners here are bent on tarnishing the country’s image and our military. In view of all the glaring evidence shown in still and video photographs, coupled with oral testimonies of surrendered and captured terrorists, some media outfits still help in the spread of propaganda that the impostor is still alive,” a top military source said.
Nigeria’s military said last week that Shekau had died last year and a man who had been posing as the group’s leader in the videos had been killed after fighting with troops in Konduga.
There have been two previous claims by Nigeria’s security forces that Shekau was dead — once in 2009 during unrest in Maiduguri — and again in 2013.
After that, the man appearing in videos as Shekau did look different from before, with a wider nose, less defined bridge and a rounder face.
But security analysts and the United States have questioned the credibility of the military’s claim.
The new 36-minute video showed Shekau, in combat fatigues and black rubber boots, standing on the back of a pick-up truck and firing an anti-aircraft gun into the air.
Standing in front of three camouflaged vans and flanked by four heavily armed, masked fighters, he spoke for 16 minutes in Arabic and Hausa.
There was no indication of where or when the video was shot.
The heavily bearded Shekau, who appeared to be the same as those in previous clips, said the military’s claim that he was dead was propaganda.
“Nothing will kill me until my days are over… I’m still alive. Some people asked you if Shekau has two souls. No, I have one soul, by Allah,” he said, apparently reading from a script.
“It is propaganda that is prevalent. I have one soul. I’m an Islamic student. I’m the Islamic student whose seminary you burnt… I’m not dead,” he added, apparently referring to the destruction of the group’s mosque in the Borno State capital, Maiduguri, in 2009.
Elsewhere in the new video, the terrorist leader said the group had implemented strict Islamic law in the towns that it had captured in recent weeks.
“We are running our caliphate, our Islamic caliphate. We follow the Koran… We now practise the injunctions of the Koran in the land of Allah,” he said.
The group also claimed to have shot down a Nigerian air force jet that went missing nearly three weeks ago.
An air force spokesman said the jet was missing.
“For any group to claim they shot it down is mere propaganda and rubbish,” Air Commodore Dele Alonge told AFP.
In his last video, the Shekau figure declared the remote areas they control near Cameroun as “Muslim territory”, echoing the declaration of a caliphate by militants in Iraq and Syria.
But holding territory has also made them more vulnerable to attacks by Nigerian forces backed by fighter jets, security sources say. The military said it inflicted heavy losses on the Islamists in the past two weeks.
The video also shows people being stoned to death and being given lashes, both traditional Islamic punishments, AFP said.
There is also footage of Boko Haram fighters picking through the wreckage of an aircraft they claim to have shot down. Nigeria's military is still looking for a Nigerian Air Force fighter jet that went missing more than three weeks ago.
The video contains images of extreme violence, including graphic scenes of an amputation, a stoning to death and a beheading.
