Dozens of Nigerian soldiers have been sentenced to death bu firing squad for refusing to fight Islamic extremists within the country.
The men were accused of refusing to deploy to recapture three towns seized by Nigeria’s home-grown militant group Boko Haram earlier this year, according to the charge sheet.
Lawyer Femi Falana, who was representing the condemned men, said 54 soldiers were convicted and sentenced to death while five soldiers were acquitted on Wednesday.
All of the soldiers were accused of “conspiring to commit mutiny against the authorities of 7 Division, Nigerian Army”, which is fighting in the northeast of the country.
It has today been reported that Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped more than 100 women and children and killed 35 people during a raid on Sunday on the remote village of Gumskiri.
The militant group has seized a string of towns and villages and declared an Islamic caliphate in August along Nigeria’s border with Cameroon.
Troops regularly complain they are outgunned by the militant group, while some have also claimed they were not paid in full or were “abandoned” on the battlefield without enough ammunition or food.
In September, 12 soldiers were sentenced to death for mutiny and attempted murder of the commanding officer in the counter-insurgency.
He was blamed by the soldiers for the deaths of other soldiers who were ambushed after being ordered to drive at night on a road often attacked by militants.
More recently, Special Forces have recaptured at least four towns with help from air raids, traditional hunters and vigilantes.
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