Twelve soldiers fighting an Islamist insurgency in north-east Nigeria have been sentenced to death by firing squad for mutiny and attempted murder of their commanding officer.
In a decision read out early on Tuesday by Brig Gen Chukwuemeka Okonkwo, the military tribunal found 12 soldiers guilty and cleared five others. One was sentenced to 28 days in jail with hard labour.
All the accused, ranging in rank from private to corporal, had denied the charges.
The revolt occurred after a convoy of soldiers was ordered to drive at night on a road frequently attacked by Boko Haram extremists. The soldiers initially refused, saying it was a suicide mission. But they eventually followed orders and were ambushed on 13 May by insurgents on the road from the north-east town of Chibok. An unknown number were killed.
Chibok is the town from which more than 270 schoolgirls were kidnapped a month earlier. More than 50 have escaped but the rest remain captive
Read more:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/16/nigerian-soldiers-boko-haram-sentenced-death-mutiny
