ABUJA—The Senate said yesterday it would not intervene in the case of 12 soldiers, who were convicted of mutiny and sentenced to death by a military tribunal, saying the penalty prescribed in the Military Act must be carried out.

The soldiers during thier mutiny tral

Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence, Senator Thompson Sekibo disclosed this shortly after a close-door meeting between the senate committee and the Service Chiefs represented by the Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Air Marshal Alex Badeh and Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah.

Senator Sekibo, who represents Rivers East in the senate said the Senate was not under pressure to intervene in the case.

He said, “No we are not, because the Armed Forces are established by an Act of the National Assembly. The Act spelt out categorically the conduct of the soldiers and the way they are to behave wherever they are.

“If you join the military, that Act is to guide you and your conduct. If you go contrary to any of the prescribed sections of the Act the punishment prescribed for the Act you violated will come on you.

“So the military did not just wake up one day and say that they are going to kill Mr. A or Mr. B. They went through the necessary processes and they found them guilty.

“But I think that those found guilty also have a way out. They can go on appeal and if the appeal finds them not guilty that will be it. But for what the military has done, they have done the best thing; because you must instil discipline in the Armed Forces.

“If you don’t do so, one day all of us here will be sacked and you will not hear of this place,” he stated.

Mr. Sekibo called on Nigerians to encourage the military to ensure that it discharged its duties effectively.

The 12 Nigerian soldiers were on September 16, sentenced to death for mutiny after firing shots at their commanding officer, Abubakar Mohammed, in Maiduguri on May 14.

A nine-member military tribunal, sitting in Abuja, convicted the soldiers.

Court president, Chukwuemeka Okonkwo said the sentences were subject to confirmation by Nigeria’s military authorities but added there was no doubt about the gravity of the offence.

But while the Senate believes the soldiers deserve to die, the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, is pleading with the Nigerian Army to lighten the death sentence.

The Acting President of the Union, Promise Adewusi, made the appeal at a news conference to express the view of the union on the verdicts passed on the soldiers.

The union said that in view of the numerous challenges confronting the military hierarchy, the execution of the convicts would not in any way restore discipline in the army.

Mr. Adewusi said although the convictions could not be faulted legally, the death sentence was harsh and unacceptable.

“We expect that the Military Council or the appropriate authority, whose responsibility it is to review sentences of this nature, should commute this sentence to a more tolerable or acceptable one.”

Mr. Adewusi said the appeal was hinged on the fact that the execution of the soldiers, rather than restore discipline, “could sow the seed of a major security problem in the armed forces”.

He said that in confronting the nation’s lingering security challenges, it was important that commanders earned the confidence of their troops.

Mr. Adewusi said: “Nowhere is cohesion needed more than in the armed forces, especially in conflict period.”

He urged the military hierarchy to ensure that the ongoing war on terror was waged in a more transparent and coordinated manner.

“We are urging the military authorities to commute the death sentence on the 12 to a lighter sentence.”