A
military general court martial in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Tuesday
sentenced a soldier to 18 months in prison for unauthorised possession
of live ammunitions outside his assigned duty post.
The court also ruled that three officers
would not be promoted for periods ranging from 18 months to two years.
The officers were found guilty of professional misconduct in the
frontline.
The court martial, headed by Olusegun
Adeniyi, a Brigadier General, tried Private Mcdonald Chukwu on a
two-count charge after he was caught at a bus station with 89 rounds of
7.62mm live ammunitions inside his travelling bag.
He was arrested by a female police
sergeant, Sarah Peters, who frisked his bag as he was about to board a
commercial bus in Maiduguri.
Mr. Chukwu, in an earlier statement,
admitted being in possession of the ammunitions, but said he forgot them
in his bag when he returned from his duty post, as he hurried to get
money from an ATM machine to travel.
He later disowned the statement, saying the ammunitions were not found in his bag.
An Army Major, Usman Inyam, was made to
forfeit 18 months of his seniority status, for professional misconduct
that involved his abandoning duty post in such a manner that may have
endangered the lives of troops in the frontline.
His lone charge indicated that as a
commanding officer in charge of infantry troops in Takumbare area of
Gwoza local government, Mr. Inyam abandoned a post usually frequently
used by Boko Haram insurgents when under attack by soldiers.
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