The Nigerian Army has inaugurated a Special Court Martial and General Court Martial to try 159 Officers and soldiers for various offences harmful to military discipline.
Major General Christopher Musa, the Theatre Commander Operation Hadin Kai North East, inaugurated the Courts at Maimalari Cantonment Officers Mess Maiduguri, Borno State Capital at the weekend.
Among the 159 accused persons are 28 officers and 130 soldiers whose offences were not specifically mentioned but were are said to be inimical to military discipline.
Brig. Gen Dominic Udofa was named as the President Special Court Martial while Squadron Leader Audu Satomi is the judge advocate.
Maj. Gen Bainze Mohammed is the President of General Court Martial while Lt Col Rotimi Bakari serves as the judge advocate .
The third court martial will be inaugurated on Monday October 12 , in Sector 2 Damaturu, Yobe State Capital.
Maj. Gen Musa while inaugurating the courts said the trials are regimental and judicial exercise meant to enforce discipline in the military which may result in a review, reduce or remove the rights and privileges of convicted service personnel.
“Therefore, conduct of military trials under the Armed Forces Act is to deal with matters that pertain directly to the regimentation, discipline, efficiency and morale of military personnel.
” To maintain the Armed Forces in a state of readiness, the military as an institution must be ready to enforce internal discipline effectively in accordance with the extant law”, he said.
He charged the court to be guided by statute laws and the traditional military regimentation and to give the accused persons fair hearing as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999(as amended).
The Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai urged officers and soldiers to discharge their duties diligently without fear, Favour or affection.
He also employ the Courts to discharge their duties while strictly guided by the need to do justice to the accused, justice to the victims of the alleged infractions and justice to the state whose laws are alleged to have been broken.