A brigadier general and 21 other army officers have been ordered to face a court martial over alleged sabotage in the war against Islamist militant group Boko Haram, according to Reuters, which cited two military sources.
The charges against the 22 officers were however not specified.
This will signal the first time senior army officers have been put on trial for offences relating to the fight against Boko Haram. 54 soldiers were late last year sentenced to death over mutiny by the Nigerian Army. Six soldiers had last September being also sentenced to death for mutiny.
Some officers have long been suspected of colluding with Boko Haram. President Goodluck Jonathan, last May, said that the terror group had “infiltrated … the armed forces and police”.
The new development may therefore be the result of a Board of Inquiry (BOI), which was last year set up investigate some of the orderlies and aides of Commanders, suspected to be moles in the Army. Sources had said at the time, that following the conclusion of investigations, a General Court Martial will be constituted to try the soldiers found culpable in leaking the military’s secrets for Criminal Conspiracy, among others.
Boko Haram killed an estimated 10,000 people last year as it battles to create an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria.
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