Kingsley Omonobi
14 January 2008
FIFTEEN army officers, three of them Colonels, are currently facing a court martial in Kaduna over alleged disappearance of a large quantity of arms and ammunition from the armoury.
Also facing trial are two Lieutenant-Colonels, a Major and nine Non-Commissioned Officers.
Large sums of money are also alleged to have been found in the accounts of some of the accused persons.
The weapons were allegedly removed from the Nigerian Army Central Ordinance Depot in Kaduna and subsequently traced to militants in the Niger Delta.
It was gathered that sometime last year, some of the militant groups began looking inwards for arms supply. That was after the military blocked their main external sources of supply.
An agent of the militants, sources said, then approached a suspect said to be on the run now for arms supply, after his predecessor had been transferred. The suspect reportedly fell for the deal, only to flee after the arrangement leaked.
A furious Lt-Gen. Yusuf Luka, the Chief of Army Staff, immediately ordered an investigation which revealed that hundreds of AK-47 rifles, General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs) and boxes of ammunition/grenades were missing from the armoury.
One of the suspects was said to have confessed to his involvement in the arms disappearance and that the arm deals were not new. He claimed that many officers, including some retired officers, were part of the illegal business at one time or the other even after retirement.
Vanguard gathered further that many officers including retired officers are consequently being recalled for interrogation.
Contacted on the matter, Director of Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen. Solomon Giwa Amu, confirmed that the Chief of Army Staff had ordered a court martial and that it is currently sitting in Kaduna.
He said the court martial was set up following the discovery that weapons put in the custody of the officers were missing.
On allegation that the missing weapons were discovered to have found their way into the hands of Niger Delta militants, Giwa Amu said that was not part of the terms of reference of the court martial.
Contacted, Presidential spokesman, Mr. Segun Adeniyi, said: "It is normal that if there is any disappearance, a probe would be ordered. It is within the powers of the military to do so."
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