The 54
Nigerian soldiers sentenced to death by the Military Court Martial over
alleged mutiny and refusal to fight the Islamist group, Boko Haram, in
the North East have approached
the presidential probe panel into human
rights violation by the Armed Forces for pardon.
The General Court Martial, which sat at
the Army Headquarters Garrison in Abuja, had passed the sentence on the
54 soldiers to death after they were found guilty of mutiny.
But, in a memorandum to the panel, the
convicted soldiers, through their lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), said
notwithstanding their appeal pending before the Court of Appeal, the
panel has jurisdiction to hear their case.
Falana drew the attention of the panel to
section 198 of the Armed Forces Act as well as section 175 of the 1999
Constitution which, he submitted, empowers the president to grant pardon
to any convicted person in Nigeria.
Falana submitted that nowhere in the
terms of reference of the panel is it stated that his clients cannot be
accommodated by the panel.
The sections, according to him, did not say pending matters in the court should not be entertained by the panel.
He told the panel that the president had
set up a panel to investigate the procurement of arms and ammunition
where it was discovered that funds meant for arms and ammunition were
criminally diverted.
The Nigerian Army has, however, pleaded for more time to respond to the petition.
Meanwhile, the panel also resumed hearing
in the petition by the Moon Valley communities in Kwande Local
Government Area of Benue State, who narrated how they were sacked by the
Nigerian Army.
SOURCE: The Sun
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