Three Officers and 13 Soldiers Jailed For Two Years For Failing to Protect Chibok Girls

THREE Nigerian Army officers and  13 soldiers have been sentenced to two years imprisonment by a military tribunal for their negligence that led to the abduction of over 200 pupils from Government Girls Secondary School Chibok.

On April 14, terrorist sect Boko Haram kidnapped the girls from their boarding house in Chibok in Borno State right under the noses of the military. In response to the embarrassment, the Nigerian Army arraigned the soldiers, who included a lieutenant colonel, a captain and a second lieutenant, before a general military court martial at the Maxwell Khobe Military Cantonment, Rukuba in Jos, Plateau State.

They have been identified as Lt Col AO Ojo, Captain O O Ogunrinde, and Second Lieutenant VI Godknows. Although the trial started at the headquarters of the Third Armoured Division in Jos, the court was moved to Kaduna where the judgment was delivered yesterday.

Shuaibu Isah, Lt Col Ojo's defence counsel, said the judgment was a far cry from the evidence presented before the court. He added that he would appeal against the judgment to the confirming authority, which is the chief of army staff, Lt Gen Kenneth Minimah.

Mr Isah said: “We are not satisfied with the judgment of the court. We intend to file an appeal against this verdict before the confirming authorities.”

According to the court, Lt Col Ojo was convicted on two counts of failing to reinforce Chibok when it came under attack from Boko Haram on April 14 and for allegedly releasing information without verification to the army authorities. His release of unverified information was said to have caused Nigeria's defence headquarters to issue a false statement on the abducted girls.

Lawyers for Second Lieutenant 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 47s but with limited rounds of ammunition to confront over 200 heavily armed Boko Haram fighters. It was alleged that he left four men to defend the camp while he took nine others to confront the insurgents before pulling back due to overwhelming fire power.
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