A plea for mercy

However, some weeks ago, a court-marshal tried and convicted the mutineers and handed down severe sentences. Twelve of the radicals are to face the firing squad while others got lighter sentences all subject to appeal. Soldiers live a regimented life barricaded in barracks and subject to rules that shock civilians. All we know is that a good soldier lays down his life for his nation; it is the ultimate sacrifice.  In the army, unquestioned loyalty is demanded of a disciplined soldier and at no time is this expedient than now notwithstanding the salacious stories of alleged complicity in high places in our battle against insurgency.
During the week the military high command visited the National Assembly Committee on Defense, apparently to rally support against parliamentary intervention in military matters. It got the support of George Sekibo; the senator heading that committee who vowed not to call for clemency. As it stands the fate of the convicted are sealed. Their final resort is to appeal to the magnanimity of the commander-in-chief without whose compassion they would face execution.
In this case, the army wants to apply the letter of the law apparently because the principal motive of law is deterrence. The army must send a strong signal to its members that indiscipline has mortal consequences. No army can win a war with a disloyal, undisciplined or unruly corps. Thus far, nobody has contested the impropriety of the act that led to this sentencing. It cannot be tolerated because it sends wrong signals and compromises not just discipline but the security of senior officers and by expansion the nation.
As civilians, we are prevented from meddling in military matters especially in acts that compromise discipline and can lead to a breakdown of law and order. When soldiers disobey the rules, it is the civilians that suffer, as was the case when ‘unknown soldiers’ burnt four public transport buses in Lagos earlier this year.
In times of war particularly, visits by the commander-in-chief and elected representatives boost morale and allows for mundane and serious issues to be tackled without incidence. If this had been the norm in this unconventional war, perhaps the grudge that forced these soldiers to react in such an unprofessional manner might have been averted. Unfortunately in our case, neither the commander in chief nor any notable member of the National Assembly has visited the battleground to rally our troops.
The duty of monitoring the welfare and regimen of our troops in battle is too serious to be left in the hands of their uniformed officers alone. It defeats the concept of checks and balances. What more, the stories of sleaze leading to the under kitting of our troops are too rife to make this single incident spontaneous. Even for the gallantry of the men and women of our armed forces, there is a limit to human endurance when the ultimate price expected is laying down their lives for their country. This is why we cannot allow this peculiar incident to define our notion of justice and discipline without rational appeal.
To execute these soldiers under these cloudy circumstances would be sending very wrong signals to other soldiers; to the civilian population and to the world at large. Particularly when a similar story of trial of senior officers accused of colluding with insurgents have been denied by the army without investigation, trial or punishment. A former senior army chief is being investigated. To be seen to be fair and just, the bounds of mutiny must not be defined by this case and the conduct of lower officers alone. Doing that sparks discontent and unrest both in battle and in the barracks. What more, the execution of these soldiers would see parents dissuading their children from joining an army with a warped or lopsided notion of justice.
I join my voice with thousands of silent Nigerians in asking the commander-in-chief to temper justice with mercy. There is still room, in our justice system to accommodate and rehabilitate these mutineers and make them pay for their insubordination without applying the supreme penalty. The death penalty is too finite to be employed this way especially in the face of an ongoing war. There are lots of grounds to cover in this war to miscarry justice; there would be lots to unravel after it is won. I therefore appeal that the lives of the twelve soldiers on death row be spared and their sentences be commuted to life or less.