Pardon for 27 soldiers

At last, the Nigerian Army Council has granted pardon to the 27 soldiers attached to the 323 Artillery Regiment, Owena Barracks, Akure, Ondo State, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, and later reduced to seven years jail term, for demonstrating violently over unpaid duty allowances.

However, in granting them full pardon, the Army Council, which said that the affected soldiers would be paid all their full benefits, also discharged them from service.

The affected soldiers, who served in the 15th Battalion of the United Nations Mission in Liberia, demonstrated in the streets of Akure over non-payment of the allowances meant for peacekeeping operation in the West African country from September 2007, to April 2008.


The cause of the problem was that the soldiers’ six months allowance of $7,368 at $1,228 per month, was unofficially slashed to $3,000. The Army had earlier explained that the shortfall emanated from a mix-up in the payment from the Finance Department of the Army headquarters.

As a result of the unruly action, which military authorities frowned at, they were tried and given life imprisonment in April 2010. The soldiers were found guilty of mutiny, an action contrary to Section 52(2) of the Armed Forces Act (Cap A 20) Law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Following public outcry and revulsion, and the insistence by their lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, to fight on until they get total pardon, the life jail term and dismissal was commuted to seven years imprisonment. The latest pardon might not be unconnected with the calls by Nigerians for leniency and the predominant feeling in the Army that the issue of the soldiers referred to as the ‘Akure 27’ be revisited.
We commend the military authorities, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Air Chief Marshall Oluseyi Petirin, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant-General Azubuike Onyeabo Ihejirika, and other top army officers, as well as the Minister for Defence, Mr. Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN), in seeing that the soldiers get reprieve.

Also, worthy of commendation is the role played by the media and members of civil society groups in decrying what amounted to trampling on citizens’ human rights even though they are soldiers. Injustice to one is injustice to all, no matter the language, creed, or professional calling.
The lesson of the entire saga is that military authorities should be humane in dealing with those under them. Those who laboured at the risk of life should not in any way be denied what is due to them. The issue of short-change in the payment of either the army or police personnel in peace-keeping operations has become rampant in the country. At times, those affected go away with the maltreatment without complaining. The ‘Akure 27’ came to the fore because of their audacity and the public interest it generated.

It is high time those in charge of these payments did the right thing and stopped exploiting those that represented the country in UN military duties.
Let the military authorities evolve an efficient payment system to ensure that this type of fraud is not perpetuated while also ensuring that those found culpable in this regard are made to face the music. It is inelegant and unedifying that this type of corruption exists in the army payment systems. Let the authorities stamp it out now.