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LequteMan
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The United Nations is making moves to avert the execution of 54 Nigerian soldiers who are on death row for allegedly committing mutiny, SERAP has revealed. The UN is adopting "appropriate actions" which included communication with the presidency on the matter, CHANNELS reports.
Excerpt:
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has disclosed that the Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary or Summary Executions, led by Mr. Christof Heyns has stated that “appropriate action including communication to the government of President Goodluck Jonathan is being considered regarding the imminent execution of 54 soldiers in Nigeria.”
This followed a petition submitted to Mr Heyns by SERAP in December 2014 in which the group asked five UN human rights independent experts to individually and jointly use their “good offices and positions to urgently request the Nigerian government and its military authorities not to carry out the mass death sentences imposed on 54 Nigerian soldiers for what the government claimed was disobeying a direct order from their commanding officer.”
It would be recalled that on Wednesday December 17 2014, the Nigerian Army’s 7 division General Court Martial convicted 54 soldiers for conspiracy to commit mutiny and sentenced them to death by firing squad. The facts of the case indicate that the soldiers, from the 111 Special Forces, were charged for disobeying a direct order from their commanding officer, Timothy Opurum, a Lieutenant Colonel, to take part in an operation to recapture Delwa, Bulabulin and Damboa in Borno State from Boko Haram terrorists on August 4.
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#Nigeria #SERAP #UN
Excerpt:
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has disclosed that the Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary or Summary Executions, led by Mr. Christof Heyns has stated that “appropriate action including communication to the government of President Goodluck Jonathan is being considered regarding the imminent execution of 54 soldiers in Nigeria.”
This followed a petition submitted to Mr Heyns by SERAP in December 2014 in which the group asked five UN human rights independent experts to individually and jointly use their “good offices and positions to urgently request the Nigerian government and its military authorities not to carry out the mass death sentences imposed on 54 Nigerian soldiers for what the government claimed was disobeying a direct order from their commanding officer.”
It would be recalled that on Wednesday December 17 2014, the Nigerian Army’s 7 division General Court Martial convicted 54 soldiers for conspiracy to commit mutiny and sentenced them to death by firing squad. The facts of the case indicate that the soldiers, from the 111 Special Forces, were charged for disobeying a direct order from their commanding officer, Timothy Opurum, a Lieutenant Colonel, to take part in an operation to recapture Delwa, Bulabulin and Damboa in Borno State from Boko Haram terrorists on August 4.
click here to read more
#Nigeria #SERAP #UN
