A Special Court-Martial of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, Borno State, has sentenced three soldiers to life imprisonment and a fourth to 15 years for illegally selling arms in collaboration with police officers and terrorist groups.
The trial, held at the Officers’ Mess of the Theatre Command Headquarters, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), was presided over by Brigadier General Ugochukwu Unachukwu, Acting General Officer Commanding 7 Division.
Delivering judgment, Brigadier General Mohammed Abdullahi, President of the Court-Martial, found Sergeant Raphael Ameh, Sergeant Ejiga Musa, and Lance Corporal Patrick Ocheje guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment, while Corporal Omitoye Rufus received 15 years in prison.
The soldiers were convicted of multiple offences, including theft, unlawful dealing in ammunition, and aiding the enemy under the Armed Forces Act.
Sergeant Ameh, an armourer at the 7 Division Garrison, conspired with a deceased colleague to steal ammunition from the division’s armoury and allegedly collaborated with police officers to conceal weapons in bags of beans, smuggling them to Enugu and Ebonyi States. Bank records linked him to over 100 suspicious transactions between July 2022 and June 2024.
Sergeant Musa, armourer of the 195 Battalion, conspired with Lance Corporal Ocheje and several police officers to sell an AK-47 rifle and large quantities of ammunition, receiving over ₦500,000 before his arrest while attempting to sell additional rounds.
Corporal Rufus was convicted of selling 40 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition to a police officer. Lance Corporal Ocheje, deployed at the forward operating base in Molai, diverted ammunition during communal clashes and stole an AK-47 rifle from a fellow soldier.
The court ruled their actions posed a direct threat to military operations and national security, constituting a clear case of aiding the enemy.
Condemning the convicts, Brigadier General Abdullahi described them as “bad eggs” who betrayed the trust, discipline, and honour expected of soldiers, reaffirming the Nigerian Army’s zero-tolerance policy on the sale of arms and ammunition to adversaries.
