The Nigerian army has clarified that although it is reviewing all disciplinary actions recently taken against soldiers convicted by general court martial, that does not necessarily mean the affected soldiers will be recalled.
Spokesman of the Army, Col Sani Usman, clarified in a statement he issued that the review should not be construed as a recall of the soldiers, adding that the review became necessary following increased litigation and petitions coming from aggrieved officers.
According to the statement, “The attention of the Nigeria army has been drawn to a correspondence making the rounds in some media regarding an administrative procedure to review some recent disciplinary cases in the Nigeria army,” it said in a statement on Sunday.
“For the avoidance of doubt it should be noted that the Nigerian army is reviewing all recent disciplinary cases due to the wave of litigation and petitions by some aggrieved personnel.
“The public should not misconstrue the recent directive to mean total recall of dismissed and deserter soldiers.”
No fewer than 70 soldiers convicted by two separate general court martial in Abuja last year are currently on death row having being convicted for mutiny and conspiracy to commit mutiny. The soldiers were previously stationed in Borno state, the hotbed of Boko Haram insurgents. More recently, at least 100 soldiers were dismissed for varying cases of indiscipline in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgents.
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