A special court-martial of the Nigerian Army has sentenced three soldiers to life imprisonment and another to 15 years in jail for selling arms and ammunition to terrorists in the north-east.
Gatekeepers News reports that the trial, presided over by Brigadier General Mohammed Abdullahi at the Theatre Command Headquarters, Maiduguri, convicted Sergeant Raphael Ameh, Sergeant Ejiga Musa, and Lance Corporal Patrick Ocheje of conspiracy, unlawful arms trade, and aiding the enemy. Corporal Omitoye Rufus received a 15-year prison term for his role in the crimes.
According to court findings, Ameh, formerly an armourer at 7 Division Garrison, stole ammunition from the armoury in collusion with a late colleague. He allegedly hid weapons in bags of beans with the help of police officers and transported them to Enugu and Ebonyi for criminal use. Records showed over 100 financial transactions linked to him between July 2022 and June 2024.
Musa, an armourer with 195 Battalion, worked with Ocheje and police officers to sell an AK-47 rifle and large quantities of ammunition, collecting more than N500,000 before his arrest.
Rufus was convicted of selling 40 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition to a police officer, while Ocheje was found guilty of diverting ammunition during communal clashes and stealing a colleague’s AK-47 rifle.
Delivering judgment, Abdullahi described the convicts as bad eggs who betrayed military discipline and endangered national security.
He stressed that their conduct amounted to aiding the enemy and reaffirmed the army’s zero-tolerance stance against soldiers involved in arms trafficking.
