54 Nigerian Soldiers Sentenced to Death for Mutiny

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54 Nigerian Soldiers Sentenced to Death for Mutiny

VOA, 17 Dec 2014

URL: http://www.voanews.com/content/nigerian-soldiers-sentenced-death-mutiny/2563715.html
A Nigerian army court has sentenced 54 soldiers to death for refusing to fight the militant group Boko Haram.The soldiers were charged with mutiny and cowardice after they refused orders in August to help retake three towns held by the Islamist militants in northeastern Borno state. A lawyer for the men, Femi Falana, said Wednesday that five other soldiers tried in the court-martial had been acquitted. The convicted soldiers, all members of the army's 7th Division, based in Maiduguri, are to be executed by firing squad. Nigerian soldiers have complained that they are outgunned by Boko Haram and that they are often sent into battle without adequate supplies. The militants have seized a string of towns in Borno and Adamawa states this year, and their leader, Abubakar Shekau, has declared an Islamic caliphate in the region…