According to a report by
Sahara Reporters, soldiers who were sentenced to death for mutiny last year are allegedly being starved to death. The report below...
Sahara Reporters has learnt of a covert plan to ‘kill’ a group of
soldiers who were arrested late last year on charges of mutiny and
attempted murder. The soldiers who have been held since September last
year managed to reach out to the outside world via text messages, using
the opportunity to reveal the conditions they are being held in.
In an initial message, they sent this text to our reporter:
“Greetings sir, we are the 12 soldiers sentenced to death \others
detained at CIC Apapa, Lagos. We are to inform you that following our
denial of access to our families, councils & even access to fund
[sic] to feed our families\pay our legal fees, that as you know, we had
been concealing our cell phone to help us hear from counsels.
The phone was collected on 6\5\15, in view of this, we have not been
fed, We are on hand-cuff & leg chain, we are kept naked [sic] &
deprived of even drinking water. As it stands now sir, our lives are at
stake. We, therefore, plead with due respect that you intervene”. Our
reporter then followed up trying to call the number but met with no
success.
After a while, one of the accused reached our reporter again, this
time in a voice call with a frantic message. “They are trying to kill
us. They want to kill us” the voice said. He went on to inform our
reporter that the authorities have noticed that they have access to a
cell phone and have therefore resorted to using starving techniques as a
form of punishment. He said they had not been fed nor given any water
for about five days.
Last year the story broke of some 12 soldiers who were reined in by
the military authorities for allegedly refusing to confront Boko Haram
militants and firing at their commanding officer in the northeastern
city of Maiduguri in May. The soldiers were reportedly angry after a
convoy was ambushed on a road frequently targeted by Islamist Boko Haram
militants and decided to protest to the authorities who they blamed for
underequipped and underpaying them.
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