Lt. Col., 15 others jailed over Chibok girls’ abduction

The Nigerian Army has sentenced three officers
and 13 other soldiers to two years’ imprisonment
each over the April 14, 2014 abduction of over
200 schoolchildren from their hostel in Chibok,
Borno State, by Boko Haram insurgents.
The soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel, a
Captain and a Second lieutenant, were arraigned
before a General Military Court Martial at the
Maxwell Khobe Military Cantonment, Rukuba in
Jos, Plateau State, in October 2014.
The officers are Col. A. O. Ojo, Capt. O. O.
Ogunrinde, and 2nd Lieutenant V.I. Godknows.
Although the trial started at the headquarters of
the 3rd Armoured Division of the Army in Jos, the
court was moved to Kaduna where the judgment
was delivered on Tuesday.
The GCM panel convened by the General Officer
Commanding I Division, Kaduna, Maj.Gen. K. C.
Osuji, comprised Brig. Gen. Ogunlade (President);
Col. J. O. Sokoya, Col. M. Kadiri, Col. M. W.
Abubakar, Col. A. A. Bamgbose, Col. A. Garba and
Col E.M . Albara
Our correspondent learnt on Tuesday that the
panel concluded that the prosecution was able to
prove the case against the soldiers.
But the Defence counsel to Col. Ojo, Mr. Shuaibu
Isah, told our correspondent on the telephone that
the judgment was a far cry from the evidence
presented before the court.
Isah said he would appeal against the judgment
to the confirming authority, which is the Chief of
Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah.
He said, “We are not satisfied with the judgment
of the court. We intend to file an appeal against
this verdict before the confirming authorities…”
A source at the court said that Ojo was convicted
on two counts of failing to reinforce Chibok when
it came under Boko Haram attack on April 14 and
for allegedly releasing information without
verification to the Army authorities.
He said the “unverified information” caused the
Defence Headquarters to issue a ‘false’ statement
on the release of the abducted girls.
The source added that Ojo, who was said to have
resumed duty the day before the attack, had
responded to the charge of failing to reinforce
Chibok by explaining that he got the information
on the Chibok attack at his location in Biu by
1a.m.
The Lt. Col. was also said to have explained that
he had other operational issues such as his
inability to notify the nearby military formation in
Damboa.
On the charge that he gave unverified information
to the Army authorities, the officer said he never
gave any figure on the “rescued or abducted
girls.”
It was gathered that the lawyers to Godknows
told the court martial that their client, who was
charged with cowardly behaviour, was at the
Chibok location with 13 soldiers armed with AK
47 but with limited rounds of ammunition to
confront over 200 heavily armed Boko Haram
fighters.
Another source said that Godknows left four men
to defend the camp while he took nine others to
confront the insurgents before pulling back due to
their high number and overwhelming fire power.
The charges against the soldiers which centred on
failure to perform military duty carry a maximum
of two years imprisonment.