Temporary reprieve came the way of the former Commander of the Multi-National Joint Task Force, Brigadier General Enitan Ransome-Kuti, as the General Court Martial, sitting in Abuja, has dismissed the charge of cowardly behaviour preferred against him, The Punch reports.
However, Ransome-Kuti’s trial will continue as he has two other charges of failure to perform military duties and miscellaneous offences relating to loss of the army’s armaments still pending against him.
Ransome-Kuti has been standing trial since June this year for the charges arising from Boko Haram attack on the Headquarters of the MNJTF, then in Baga, Borno State, on January 3, 2015.
He was charged for cowardly abandoning his post, neglecting his duties, and failing to account for the army’s armament in his custody during and after the terrorists’ attack.
According to the charges, he was alleged to be unable to account for three multipurpose light-armoured towing vehicles (MTLB in Russian), three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, two pan herd, three Sagie, one VBL amoured vehicle, eight general purpose machine guns, eight browning machine guns, two trucks, 12 Hilux vehicles and large quantity of ammunition.
According to the report, the Maj. Gen. O.E. Ekanem-led court struck out the charge of cowardly behaviour preferred against Ransome-Kuti after a no-case submission application the accused filed after the prosecution called three witnesses to prove its case.
Though Journalists were barred from covering the proceedings of the court-martial, the report says, with the court striking out one of the charges against him on August 12, 2015, Ransome-Kuti is left to face charges of failure to perform military duties and miscellaneous offences relating to loss of the army’s armaments.
According to the report, Ransome-Kuti, through his counsel, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN) and Maj. Femi Oyebanji (retd) filed the no-case submission arguing that the prosecution had failed to prove its case to warrant him opening his defence. However, the court upheld the argument of the defence lawyers only with respect to their objection to the charge of cowardice.
Quoting from a copy of the no case submission sighted by the newspaper, the report has it that, in the defence lawyers’ analysis of the charge of cowardly behaviour, they argued that the evidence of the first prosecution witness which was to prove the allegation was incoherent.
They also maintained that from the evidence adduced by the prosecution, it was clear that Ransome-Kuti never abandoned MNJTF in Baga on January 3, 2015, adding that under the situation in which the command lacked the needed equipment, the accused was justified “by the absence of hope or relief, inability to offer further resistance or the certainty or extreme probability that no further efforts could prevent the place, post or thing falling into enemy hands.”
On the charge of failure to perform military duty, the defence lawyers contended that the prosecution failed to adduce evidence on their client’s schedule of duties to show which of them he performed negligently
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