The Group Of 5
More revelations came of out of this set of soldiers being tried for mutiny. On 21 October, military authorities at Mogadishu Barracks also commenced the trial of five soldiers who were charged with mutiny (Corporal Bankole Taiwo and four others).

They were facing a two-count charge of conspiracy to commit mutiny in October 2013. They allegedly fired into the air when information got to them that their colleagues had been killed by Boko Haram in the North-East.

Four prosecution witnesses––out of 11––have so far spoken: Lt. Col Abubakar Saddiq Bugaje, Captain O.O Cole, Captain Egwu Ogbona and Sergeant O. Popoola. Captain Joseph Nwosu led the witnesses in evidence. In his evidence for the prosecution of the accused soldiers, he revealed how, after Boko Haram attacked Nigerian soldiers, he and his men withdrew 10 corpses. While Opurum, the C.O., ordered that the corpses be deposited at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and not enter the military camp, one of the drivers drove straight to base, a development that made the soldiers to fire into the air.

•Another group of five soldiers on trial

He explained how one Lance Corporal Adebayo Gbenga stepped out of the crowd and emptied his magazine on the C.O’s tent, destroying his personal belongings. Bugaje tried to scold the soldier who pointed his gun at his superior’s chest threatening to shool if he moved an inch!

In his own statement, Cole told the prosecution that it was Anas Bawa’s carrying of the corpses into the camp that sparked the shooting. On 14 September, their C.O left Gubio camp for Maiduguri to brief the GDC. Col. B. Ahanofu, thereafter, came and said he wanted to address the troops. Cole revealed further that all of a sudden, Corporal Ayodele Olawale began to raise his voice, asking many questions, and the soldiers being addressed started firing shots.

It was the turn of Capt Godwin Ogbona, another witness, who revealed more names, especially Corporal Sule Ochehepo who fired indiscriminately in the air and made some uncomplimentary statements about the commanding officer.

Also, Sgt. Popoola Olusegun made a statement that Nigerian soldiers attacked a Boko Haram hideout at Kafiye forest but recorded some casualities, which some soldiers felt was avoidable. This, as Olusegun said, resulted in some soldiers firing their AK 47 rifles into the air indiscriminately.

When their commander came to camp to address the troops, Olusegun said the angry soldiers boldly asked the senior army officer not to give him and his men bull shit.

The comment, in the words of Olusegun, ignited the already tense atmosphere and many soldiers started to fire indiscriminately into the air. As he and others pulled Ayodele out of the crowd to stop his invectives against the C.O, he allegedly threatened the peace makers with his weapon.

To Die Or Not?
Sources at Mogadishu Barracks told TheNEWS that if the present 64 soldiers (59 plus five) are convicted like the first set of 12, they will have right of appeal to the Supreme Court. Also, their death warrant will stop on the table of President Goodluck Jonathan.

•Jonathan: Will he kill the soldiers

Apart from the fact that the process of killing soldiers in this kind of case is long, no elected president has ever signed the death warrant, not just of soldiers, in Nigeria. Will Jonathan spare the men? That is the question being asked by concerned Nigerians at home and the diaspora.