By Najib Sani Bauchi
A military court martial sitting in Maiduguri, Borno state yesterday sentenced two Nigerian soldiers to 23 years each in prison for stealing ammunition meant for combating Boko Haram insurgency. Th e court also sentenced one Garba Saidu, a corporal, to 10 years behind bars for a similar off ence. Th e convictions came at a time troops are fi ghting wellarmed insurgents whose source of weaponry remained a mystery. Troopers Eric Nwokoye and Macaulay Fortune, who were course mates and serving in the same unit in Madagali, Adamawa state, bagged 23 years imprisonment following their conviction on a fi ve-count charge of unlawful possession of 2,136 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, belonging to the Nigerian Army.
According to the prosecution, they were nabbed in Yola, Adamawa state with a cache of arms stuff ed in a large bag they intended to transport via a commercial taxi. Also found in the bag were fi ve empty AK-47 rifl e magazines, 50 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, and two rounds of Browning Machine Gun ammunition. Th e two soldiers were exposed after their heist reportedly fell off from the bag as they prepared to board a commercial vehicle at Jambutu Motor Park in Jimeta, Yola, the court said. Th e President of the military court, Adamu Jagun, a Lieutenant-Colonel, said the two soldiers were found guilty of the fi ve-count charge. Th e third soldier, Garba Saidu, was sentenced to 10 years after the court found him guilty on a two-count charge of being in possession of 1,400 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, which he allegedly buried in the premises of the Nigerian Army’s 7 Division Garrison. (Premium Times)
