By Rafiu Ajakaye
LAGOS
A Nigerian court-martial has sentenced another four soldiers to death for offences including mutiny related to ongoing counterinsurgency operations in the country's Boko Haram-ravaged northeastern region.
"Between yesterday night and this morning, another set of four soldiers were sentenced to death by firing squad after the court-martial found them guilty of mutiny and failure to obey lawful orders," a top military official told The Anadolu Agency on Thursday morning.
He said all four were low-ranking army personnel.
No official statement has been issued on the latest raft of death penalties, which came only hours after 16 soldiers – including senior officers – were slapped with two-year jail terms for failing to prevent Boko Haram's abduction in April of 276 schoolgirls in Chibok, a town in Nigeria's northeastern Borno State.
A few days ago, 54 soldiers were sentenced to death by firing squad in connection with counterinsurgency operations in the restive northeast.
For months, Nigerians were bombarded with media reports of soldiers fleeing the battlefield, defying orders, abetting Boko Haram militants in exchange for money, or complaining about obsolete weapons.
The military, for its part, had avoided making public statements about the court-martial.
But army spokesman Brig. Olajide Laleye told AA Wednesday that the Nigerian military would not tolerate indiscipline.
For the last five years, Nigeria has battled a fierce Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged the country's volatile northeastern region.
A seemingly emboldened Boko Haram recently stepped up its militant activity, seizing several areas in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, where the group has declared a self-styled "Islamic caliphate."
Outlawed in Nigeria, Turkey and the United States, Boko Haram first emerged in the early 2000s preaching against government misrule and police corruption.
It became violent in 2009 following the death of its leader while in police custody.
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