Molly Kilete, Abuja
The former General Officer Commanding (GOC), 8 Division Nigerian Army Sokoto, Major-General Hakeem Otiki, would be arraigned before a General Court Martial (GCM), any moment from now, our correspondent has learnt.
Already the Army Headquarters authorities have alerted the Department of Legal Services to be on the standby to prepare charges against the accused senior officer as soon as interrogators conclude their investigations.
Otiki, who is currently in custody at the headquarters of the Special Investigations Bureau (SIB), located at the Shehu Yar Adua, barracks was said to be cooperating with investigators handling the matter.
Also in custody at the SIB office is the finance officer of the division. He is also being investigated by detectives who believe he knows something about the money as the division’s finance officer.
This is just as Daily Sun gathered that one of the soldiers who were also in the escort of the former GOC, but refused to join his colleagues to perpetrate the crime and reported the matter to army authorities, returned N14million cash which he submitted to the authorities.
However, our correspondent could not ascertain whether or not the N14million he returned as part of his share of the loot or a gift from the GOC as welfare for the escort.
Daily Sun, gathered that the incident which is giving the Army sleepless nights is not going to be swept under the carpet.
It was also gathered that reports making the rounds that the soldiers went away with billions of naira is not true as the exact amount stolen on the day of the incident which occurred on July, 11, was N400,000m.
However, sources say the total money being transported by the GOC’s escort might be much bigger than that. Since the incident of July 11, it was not the first or second time they were asked to transport huge sums of money for their principal.
Military sources told Daily Sun, that the officer was brought in late on Monday night under very tight security and taken straight to the SIB office where is currently being detained.
A top military source who did not want his name to be mentioned said: “I can assure you that the senior has been moved to Abuja. He was moved along with his finance officer because it is believed that the FO must know something about the money.”
He also said that heads might roll at the end with the way the investigation was going as the investigators were trying to unravel where the money was being transported to, who was at the receiving end, those involved in the racketeering and most importantly where the money was coming from.
Another source who also did not want to be mentioned said: “For now, he is in custody with the SIB for further investigation after the one they did in Sokoto.
The source also said: “He would definitely face court-martial any moment from now but it would take some processes because military intelligence would first carry out a preliminary investigations followed by the military police who would carry out detailed investigations to unravel all the details about the evidence and allegations that would guide them proffer the necessary charges and submit to the authorities who would constitute the convening authority.”
Meanwhile, the escapee soldiers namely Corporal Gabriel Oluwaniyi, Corporal Mohammed Aminu, Lance Corporal Commander Haruna, Lance Corporal Oluji Joshua, and Lance Corporal Hayatudeen Abubakar are yet to tracked by army authorities.
And it might be difficult to track and arrest the fleeing soldiers who did not only abandoned their service riffles and other military accoutrements but their mobile telephone handsets and even relocated their families.
The Army has been mum since the incident broke on Tuesday when journalists during a media briefing at the Defence Headquarters, ambushed the director Defence Information Colonel Onyema Nwachuku with questions.
Nwachuku, who did not expect questions on the matter said: “Investigation is underway to find out what happened and how it happened.”