Nigerian soldier who criticized Buhari Charged to court
A Lance Corporal in the Nigerian Army, Idakpini Martins, is set to face court-martial following his transfer from the Federal Capital Territory to Sokoto State.
It would be useful to recall that Mr Martins in a published video criticized the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, and well as President Muhammadu Buhari’s handling of the Boko Haram crisis.
PREMIUM TIMES report that the soldier’s lawyer, Tope Akinyode, disclosed the transfer on Saturday.
A senior army officer who asked not to be named also confirmed the transfer saying the army did so because Mr Martins committed his ‘offence in Sokoto’.
The source said the soldier will likely face the court-martial on Monday.
Corporal Martins was arrested on June 20 after he published a video online, blaming Buratai and President Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly failing to provide adequate resources to soldiers combating Boko Haram insurgents.
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He was detained in Abuja and denied legal representation for a month until Mr Akinyode, a rights lawyer, approached a Federal High Court, Abuja to file a rights violation lawsuit.
On July 22, Justice A. I. Chikere reportedly allowed Corporal Martins to see his lawyer and relative. He held that the Nigerian Army’s action is against the detained soldier’s fundamental human rights.
Despite the court order, the Nigerian army reportedly refused, on several occasions to allow Mr Martins the right to see his lawyer, friends and family.
On Saturday, Mr. Akinyode told journalists that Mr. Martins would be tried before a court-martial in Sokoto on Monday.
He alleged that the army “is forcing a lawyer from within the military on Lance Corporal Martins in a desperate attempt to jeopardize the case and wrongly convict the detained soldier.”
“Lance Corporal Martins has been brutalized and subjected to a great deal of dehumanizing treatment. He was also denied food and has therefore developed Ulcer,” he said.
He said efforts are ongoing to resist the move by the army.
Although soldiers considered to have violated army rules can be subjected to a court-martial, they retain the right to choose their own legal representation.
Nigerian Army spokesperson, Sagir Musa, on Saturday declined to explain the position of the army on the matter.
The Boko Haram insurgency has been a constant theme in Nigeria’s story for the better part of the last decade, leading to a wanton destruction of lives and properties, particularly in North-east Nigeria.
Scores of people have been killed and millions displaced due to the insurgency.
Many Nigerian soldiers including the army hierarchy have blamed paucity of weaponry as one of the reasons the terrorists have not been defeated.
President Buhari has also admitted that lack of adequate weapons has contributed to why the terrorists are yet to be defeated and recently said his government had set plans afloat to get new weapons from Jordan, China and the U.S.
