BY KINGSLEY OMONOBI

ABUJA – Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Onyeabor Azubuike Ihejirika has directed the establishment of two standing military court martials, one in the Northern part of the country and the other in the Southern part of the country for quick dispensation of military justice to army officers and soldiers found wanting in the performance of their duties.

Making the disclosure at the  Nigerian Army law seminar in Abuja, Gen. Ihejirika noted that members of the courts would be posted there to serve tenure of some years.

He explained that during the period that members would be posted to the standing Court Martials, they would be accountable to him (COAS), and their personal evaluation reports would be written as members of that court adding, “this would go a long way in eliminating command influence in court martials which hitherto had existed right from the battalion level through the brigade level to the division level.

Represented by the Chief of Administration, Army headquarters, Major General PS Usara, the COAS said, “I am glad to note that the consensus of the participants was that military law truly needs reform and the issue of eliminating command influence in court martials was also brought to the front burner. I am also gladdened that the opinion of this erudite audience supports that Nigerian armed forces lawyers need to be appearing in civil courts in defence of matters concerning the armed forces”.

He expressed concern that, “One aspect of the military law reform that bothered him, was the issue of Nigerian armed forces lawyers not having the privilege of appearing in court to protect the interests of the Nigerian armed forces”.

It would be recalled that failure of armed forces lawyers to appear in court to defend the armed forces in civil courts had led to many cases coming out in favour of the complainants as most civil lawyers representing the military were not abreast of the military culture and intricacies most times associated with such cases.