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South African president, Jacob Zuma announced
today that 67 of its citizens died in the Synagogue
building collapse that occurred on September 12th. The
South Africans were in Nigeria to seek spiritual help
and were staying at the guest house before it
collapsed.
A military court sitting in Abuja on Monday found 13
out of the 18 soldiers standing trial for mutiny and
other offences guilty.
Twelve of the convicted soldiers were sentenced to
death, five were discharged and acquitted while the
remaining one was jailed for 28 days with hard labour.
The soldiers had on May 14, 2014 fired shots at the
General Officer Commanding the newly created 7
Division of Nigerian Army, Maj. Gen. Ahmed
Mohammmed, in Maiduguri.
The act is viewed in the military as mutiny.
Those discharged are David Robert, Mohammed Sani,
Iseh Ubong, Sebastine Gwaba and Naaman Samuel.
Jeremiah Echocho was sentenced to 28 days with hard
labour.
Those who were sentenced to death are Jasper
Braidolor, David Musa, Friday Onuh, Yusuf Shuaibu,
Igonmu Emmanuel, Andrew Ugbede, Nurudeen Ahmed,
Ifeanyi Alukagba, Alao Samuel, Amadi Chukwuma, Alan
Linus, and Stephen Clement.
They were found guilty of criminal conspiracy, mutiny,
attempt to commit murder (shooting of the vehicle of
the GOC); insubordination to a particular order;
insubordination and false accusation.
The President of the Court Martial, Maj. Gen. C.C.
Okonkwo, said the 12 soldiers were found guilty of
three of the most heinous charges bars.
The legal team of the convicts pleaded with the court
martial to temper justice with mercy.
The team reeled out pathetic stories about the family
backgrounds of the convicted servicemen.
One was said to be the only son of his octogenarian
widowed mother.
Another is the father of a five-month-old baby.
The defence team argued that giving them maximum
sentence would do more harm than good, adding that
it would increase the agony of their dependants.
The attack on the GOC and his men reportedly occurred
when they visited the cantonment.
The Maimalari Cantonment is the headquarters of 7
Division, the newest Division of the Nigerian Army.
Military sources said that soldiers at the cantonment
had been complaining of insufficient ammunition, food
and allowances prior to the GOC’s visit.
They were also reportedly unhappy and their morale
was at its lowest ebb because there had not been
troop rotation for a long time since their deployment to
combat Boko Haram terrorists in the North- East.
“The GOC’s visit coincided with the arrival of the
corpses of soldiers killed in an ambush in Chibok on
the night of May 13, 2014.
“The apparently agitated soldiers, on sighting the
corpses of their slain colleagues became hysteric.
Some opened fire on the GOC, who was lucky to have
escaped unhurt. However, the bullets hit and seriously
injured some of his bodyguards, who also fled to
safety,” the source said.
