A special court-martial of the Nigerian Army sitting in Maiduguri, Borno State, has sentenced three soldiers to life imprisonment and another to 15 years in jail for engaging in illegal arms deals in collaboration with police officers and terrorists.
The trial, presided over by Brigadier General Ugochukwu Unachukwu, Acting General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division and Commander of Sector 1, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), was held at the Officers’ Mess of the Theatre Command Headquarters in Maiduguri.
Delivering the judgment, Brigadier General Mohammed Abdullahi, who served as president of the court-martial, declared Sergeant Raphael Ameh, Sergeant Ejiga Musa, and Lance Corporal Patrick Ocheje guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Corporal Omitoye Rufus was handed a 15-year prison term.
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The convicted soldiers were charged with offences including theft, illegal arms dealings, and aiding the enemy—serious crimes punishable under the Armed Forces Act.
According to Daily Trust, Investigations revealed that Sergeant Ameh, who worked as an armourer at the 7 Division Garrison, conspired with a late colleague to steal ammunition from the division’s armoury. He reportedly concealed weapons in bags of beans and, with the aid of police officers, smuggled them to Enugu and Ebonyi States for criminal groups. Bank records further linked him to over 100 suspicious financial transactions between July 2022 and June 2024.
Similarly, Sergeant Musa, while serving as the armourer of 195 Battalion, was found guilty of working with Lance Corporal Ocheje and some police officers to sell an AK-47 rifle and large quantities of ammunition. Records showed he received over ₦500,000 from the illegal sales before his arrest while attempting another transaction.
Corporal Rufus was convicted of selling 40 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition to a police officer. On his part, Lance Corporal Ocheje, who was deployed at the forward operating base in Molai, was found guilty of diverting ammunition during communal clashes on the instructions of a police officer. He also stole an AK-47 rifle belonging to another soldier.
According to the court, the convicted soldiers’ actions posed a grave threat to ongoing military operations and national security, amounting to directly aiding the enemy.
Condemning the offences, Brigadier General Abdullahi described the convicted soldiers as “bad eggs” who betrayed the discipline, trust, and honour expected of men in uniform, especially in the ongoing counter-insurgency war.
He further reaffirmed the Nigerian Army’s uncompromising stance against the diversion or sale of arms and ammunition to adversaries “in whatever form or guise.”
