Major, 13 others face Court Martial for alleged Kidnapping, murder

A Major, two captains, two staff sergeants and one sergeant have been dragged before a seven-member court martial over their alleged involvement in murder, kidnapping and other offences.

The General Officer Commanding, 6 Division, Maj. Gen. Jamil Sarham, disclosed this on Saturday during the inauguration of the General Court Martial at the Army Division in Port Harcourt Rivers State.

The offences, according to Sarham, included attempted murder, desertion, crime in relation to public and services property, disobedience to standing orders and conducts prejudice to service discipline.

He stated that the court martial remained one of the apparatus used by the Nigerian Armed Forces to discipline erring personnel.

Sarham said: “The Nigerian Army is a creation of the Nigerian Constitution to carry out specific tasks to support the government effort in providing security for the Nigerian nation.

“To achieve this, a discipline and professional Armed Forces is imperative and this in line with the Chief of Army Staff’s vision to have a professionally responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles.

Read also: Air Force dismisses 2 over invasion of Magu’s farmhouse

“There is no gainsaying that unless such a body of professionals is disciplined, achieving victory in battle and other specified assignments would not be easy.’’

Continuing, Sarham said that Section 131 of the Armed Forces Act conferred on him the powers to convene the General Court Martial and try the accused persons who allegedly violated some codes guiding the army’s professional conduct.

He said: “We have a total of 14 accused persons; three officers and 11 soldiers. Among them is one major, two captains, two staff sergeants and one sergeant and others.”

Sarham explained that the accused persons had earlier been thoroughly investigated to ensure that no innocent person was wrongly tried and punished, promising that justice would be done in all the cases.

“Trial is not only aimed at seeing that offenders are punished, but to serve as deterrent to others to prevent future occurrence. I must state clearly that the accused persons are presumed innocent of the offences charged against them until proven guilty by this court”, he said.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now