Skip to main content

Nigerian Army claims it sacked colonel for being partisan

Nigerian Army on duty
Nigerian Army on duty
After submitting it dismissed an officer for “failing to renew his contract,” the Nigerian Army on Friday indicated it may have sacked the officer and 38 others for alleged electoral partisanship, among other allegations.
The affected officer, Abdulfatah Mohammed, was controversially dismissed in 2016 alongside others, including military generals without facing any panel as required by law.
The army had submitted during repeated hearings in court that it sacked the officers for failing to renew their contracts after 18 years of service.
The officers, who have instituted various actions against their dismissal, have however argued that the armed forces guiding rules do not oblige them to make any such application, once they have been employed.
Speaking during further cross-examination of Mr Mohammed, a lawyer for the defence team, Ibrahim Etsu, alleged the applicant was in Edo State during the 2015 election.
According to the lawyer, Mr Mohammed, a dismissed army lieutenant colonel, ”was allegedly involved in election malpractice” in Edo State from the South-south, the region the former President, Goodluck Jonathan, is from.
Responding, however, Mr Mohammed said he was posted to Borno State where he fought alongside other soldiers against attacks by the dreaded Boko Haram.

LAWYER SPEAKS

Explaining the proceedings of the day in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES after the court session on Monday, Mr Mohammed’s lawyer, Abdul Mohammed, said the case was adjourned till February 22 after a defence lawyer informed the court that he would like to change a defence witness.
He also informed this newspaper that his client was accused of playing partisan roles in Edo State, during the previous election.
“What happened today was that the defence counsel, Ibrahim Etsu, did further cross-examination of the applicant. A defence lawyer, Etsu put a number of questions before the applicant. One of the questions was intended to put to the applicant that he was in Edo State during the 2015 general elections. But the applicant was able to put forth documents that showed that he was in Borno State during that period.”
Mr Mohammed explained that the other defence counsel, Jibrin Okutepa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, asked the court to allow him time to present a new witness because his initial one was transferred by the army.
Following that application, the court adjourned till February 22, for the defence to change their witness and bring him or her to court.
Attempts by this newspaper to speak with Mr Etsu failed. The lawyer said he was not permitted to speak with journalists about the matter.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerian man who posed as American millionaire to dupe women arrested in Thailand

Thai Tourist Police launched a manhunt for conspirators in a “romance scam” gang after they arrested a 32-year-old Nigerian who allegedly lured a Thai woman in Lampang province into wiring him nearly Bt100,000. Tourist Police Bureau deputy commissioner Pol Maj-General Surachet Hakparn said in a press conference yesterday that the suspect, Emery Henry Ogba, was a member of a gang believed to have a monthly income of Bt1 million from illicit operations. Ogba was nabbed at a department store in Nonthaburi province on April 21, following an arrest warrant issued by a Lampang Court on March 29 on charges of fraud and overstaying his visa. Police seized Bt42,700 in cash, some ATM cards and bank books, and four mobile phones. Surachet said that one of the conspirators was a Thai woman. “On February 21, a 41-year-old woman filed complaints with police in Lampang’s Koh Ka area that a man who identified himself as Mark Westwood, an American millionaire,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Police arrest cyber criminals that transfer funds from stolen sim cards(photo)

Lagos State Police Command has arrested a 6 - man syndicate that specialised in robbing Lagosians of their mobile phones and turning over its SIM cards to hackers who get hold of the account details of its owners and transfer its balances to their accounts. Parading the group today, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Imohimi Edgal disclosed that the syndicate comprised of three splinter groups visiting choice locations in the state to rob members of the public of their phones. He stated that six suspects have been arrested by the Decoy Team of Rapid Response Squad of the command in relation to the fraud. He noted that the group handed over the SIMs to another set of people that would through special computer apps get the bank account details of the owners and thereafter get the account balances. Edgal added that the balance of the account is now transferred into different accounts sourced by another set of suspects. According to the Commissioner, Nwanze Ifeanyi (27), Mart...
Post a Comment
Read more

Police officer is sued for allegedly molesting a woman’s corpse in sick bodycam footage

                                        A police officer accused of molesting a woman's corpse has been sued by her family for 'invading their privacy, inflicting emotional distress, and mishandling human remains.'   A lawsuit filed on Tuesday August 11, in LA Superior Court by the deceased's family identifies the officer, David Rojas, and accuses other unnamed LAPD employees of viewing and sharing bodycam footage of the alleged incident.   The lawsuit alleges that when Rojas was dispatched to 34-year-old Elizabeth Baggett's home in October 2019, he discovered that she had died of a drug overdose, and then, “sexually molested the Decedent, including fondling the Decedent’s breasts and feeling her nipples”.     "The defendants’ body cam recorded video of the Decedent’s naked form, including video of Defendants David Rojas engaging in sexual contact with Decedent," court...
Post a Comment
Read more