Court martial frees commander, 2 colonels

Court martial frees commander, 2 colonels

 

A military trial in Abuja has freed an army Commander who had been standing trial over an offence committed during an operation against terrorists in Borno State.

The general court martial, sitting in Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja and presided over by Brigadier General MS Yusuf, wound up sitting on 20 January with the discharge and acquittal of Lt Col Suleiman Saidu Tilawan, the former Commanding Officer of 103 Battalion on the charge of failure to follow channel of communication that was preferred against him.

The defence counsel had made a no-case submission and after going through the prosecutor’s case, the court upheld the no case submission and consequently discharged and acquitted the officer.

Lt Col Tilawan was in command of 103 Battalion of the Nigerian Army that was deployed at Konduga, a town of about 15 kilometres from Maiduguri, Borno State, where the recent battles against Boko Haram that led to the defeat of the insurgents took place.

He was arraigned with 97 other soldiers on 18 September 2014.

 During the trial, Lt Col Tilawan was described by the main prosecution witness, Colonel S Ndalolo, as a very gallant and highly competent field commander.

Also discharged by the court martial were Lt. Col DB Danzang and Lt. Col SU Abubakar.

The court martial had earlier sentenced 62 soldiers to death, while the first court martial sentenced 12 soldiers to death, bringing the total number of soldiers sentenced to death to 74 by the two court-marshals.