Ad image

Boko Haram: Release 54 soldiers serving jail terms, MURIC appeals

David Adenekan
David Adenekan
B'Haram: Pardon soldiers jailed for refusing to fight, MURIC begs Buhari
Some of the 54 soldiers serving jail terms

The human rights group, Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has appealed to the Minister o Internal Affairs, Rauf Aregbesola, to release 54 soldiers serving prison terms for mutiny.

MURIC made the call against the backdrop of Aregbesola’s announcement that there was the need to urgently decongest the Nigerian correctional facilities.

The appeal for the soldiers who were convicted in 2014 was made in a statement issued by the director of MURIC, Professor Ishaq Akintola on Monday.

The statement reads in part:  “We are asking the minister to extend the kind gesture to other prisoners based on merit. Our main interest lies in the 54 soldiers. These were soldiers arrested in 2014 for daring to complain to their commander that their weapons were too poor to confront better equipped Boko Haram fighters.

“They had earlier lost 23 men and four officers due to poor equipment when they advanced on Damboa on 9th July, 2014. This made them to demand better supplies when they were ordered to return to the battle front again without improved weaponry. They were sentenced to death in December 2014 but this was later commuted to ten years imprisonment.

“But Nigerians have since learnt that it was the 54 soldiers affair which exposed the massive corruption in the army with particular reference to armsgate. We therefore contend that the 54 soldiers should be seen as heroes and patriots instead of being treated as criminals who merely deserve to rot in jail.

“It is on these humane and compassionate grounds that we are pleading with the honourable Minister of Internal Affairs to kindly extend the decongestion exercise to the 54 soldiers. It is about our norms and values. Those who have toiled for our country should not be made to regret their sacrifices. It is demoralising.

“Apart from seeking greener pastures, our lopsided sense of justice is another raison d’etre for the migration of Nigerian youth to foreign lands. We castigate excellence and reward mediocrity. We worship indolence and demonise industry. We deride integrity but hail corruption. This kills gallantry in our soldiers and diminish patriotic instincts in our young ones. Instead of giving them ordinary Panadol, Nigeria beheads its citizens for complaining of headache.

“Or how do we explain the sentencing of a 22 year old man to 30 months in prison for stealing a pair of slippers? Worse still, he was given no option of fine. Why should a poor citizen be jailed two years for stealing just one goat? How do we justify the death sentence handed down to four men for stealing only one phone worth N10,000? What is the rationale behind docking a JSS 2 student for stealing N200 from his classmate?

“These are questions begging for answers and we expect the minister to address this burning issue of gross injustice in the land particularly against the poor jamahiir (masses). The starting point should be the 54 soldiers. We strongly believe that they are victims of ego-massaging by senior officers.”

MURIC also brought the issue of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy to the front burner.

It states further:  “We are aware that the Federal Government (FG) on Tuesday 28th August, 2018 inaugurated the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy. The Committee is to assist President Muhammadu Buhari in the discharge of his constitutional responsibility of granting state pardon to deserving prisoners and ex-convicts.

“The committee has been going round the states and it is doing a great job. But we are yet to hear what the committee thinks of the 54 soldiers. It is our considered opinion that the 54 soldiers are eminently eligible for presidential mercy. It may be pertinent here to inform the honourable minister that a special appeal for clemency for the 54 soldiers was addressed to the Vice President’s office by MURIC in November 2018.

“Prisoners are being released in large numbers around the world. Former US president Barrack Obama released 6,000 prisoners on 30th October, 2015. Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, released 7,000 prison inmates in October 2016 to make room for corruption offenders. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan ordered the release of 935 prisoners ahead of Ramadan on 14th May, 2018. It is only in Nigeria that governors and chief judges release a paltry 8 or 9 prisoners and leave thousands in jail to waste away.

“We therefore expect Aregbesola to order the release of inmates in their thousands from each correctional centre. The minister had been an uncommon governor for eight good years and he had stunned Nigerians with his record-breaking performance. We are therefore expecting an equally uncommon, unprecedented and revolutionary decongestion of Nigeria’s correctional centres within the next six months. Indeed, we expect the release of at least 50% of the 73, 631 Nigerians who are presently in the correctional centres. This will fall in line with global best practices.

“Before we draw the curtain, we hail Aregbesola for planning to decongest the prisons. We appeal to him to take a compassionate, yet dispassionate look at the case of the 54 soldiers with a view to setting them free.”

 

 

 

Share this Article
Leave a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *