From Molly Kilete, Abuja and Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The Nigerian Army, yesterday, inaugurated a General Court Martial (GCM) to try two Major-Generals.
The accused officers are Major-General Ibrahim Sani, formerly Chief of Army Transformation and Innovation Centre and Major-General Patrick Falola, formerly commander, 68, Hospital, Yaba, Lagos.
The GCM, which is headed by Air Vice Marshall James Gbum, has Colonel Saad Musa as the Judge Advocate, also has Rear Admiral Surgeon Edwin Enechukwu, Rear Admiral Peter Agba, and Air Vice Marshall Iya, as members.
Inaugurating the GCM at the Mogadishu Cantonment, the court president gave assurances that the accused officers would get fair hearing even though charge sheets of the offence was not presented.
Army authorities sources told Daily Sun that a huge portion of the said land was allegedly acquired by the accused officer which he, in turn, allegedly sold to persons that were not army personnel.
The incident, which reportedly happened about six years ago, was said to have been investigated by the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps who unearthed documents indicting the senior officer.
However, non-presentation of the charge sheet to the accused officer and his defence counsel did not go down well with General Sani’s lawyer, Navy Captain Aniche who demanded that the charge sheet be made available to him to enable him prepare his defence.
The court president did not object to the request and ordered the prosecuting counsel to make the documents available to the defence team after which he adjourned to May 9.
Meanwhile, soldiers have killed 13 Boko Haram members in Sambisa, Borno State. Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Lucky Irabor told newsmen at the Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri that in addition to the killings, arms cache of the insurgents was also recovered.
He also disclosed the establishment of a clinic for the medical and psychological treatment of hostages rescued in the current crackdown on Boko Haram in Sambisa, the insurgents’ operational base.
