Army Confirms Brigadier Ransome Kuti’s jail sentence

Nigeria’s military authorities on Saturday confirmed the six-month imprisonment slammed on Brigadier General Enitan  Ransome Kuti, after a court martial in Abuja.

In a statement,  army spokesman Colonel Sani Usman  said:  : “‎I wish to confirm that one of the accused persons, Brigadier General EA Ransome-Kuti was awarded the following punishments on the various count charges against him as follows:

“The first count charge which was “Cowardly Behaviour” was struck out but he was found guilty on Count Charge Number Two which was “Failure to Perform Military Duties” and  was dismissed from the Nigerian Army.”

Ransome Kuti, son of  late Beko Ransome Kuti, the medical doctor-turned human rights activist,  was equally found guilty on Count Charge Number 3 which was “Miscellaneous Offences Relating to Service Property” and was awarded six months imprisonment, the army statement said.‎

The Army authorities charged Kuti  with shirking his duties against Boko Haram, leading to the brigands taking over the north eastern town of Baga.

He was also accused of failure to, according to “account for the weapons and ammunition under his supervision, rendering the army useless in the fight against Boko Haram.”

While the officer pleaded not guilty, his lawyer, Femi Falana, proved that, apart from the military high command failing woefully to equip its officers and men, a situation that rendered them impotent, he cited submissions by army officers and the rank and file, complaining that they were poorly equipped to fight the insurgents.

A former Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh corroborated this position after leaving service.

On 3 January this year,  Boko Haram overran the  military base that was the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force, Chad, Niger and Nigeria. The militants then forced thousands of locals from the region and committed a Mass killing that only ended on 7 january..

Fatalities have been reported to be “heavy” but their extent was  unclear. Several “Western world” media reported that “over 2,000” people were thought to have been killed or “unaccounted for”, but local media reported “at least a hundred” fatalities, while the Nigerian Ministry of Defence said that no more than 150 people were  killed, including militants.