OUTSPOKEN SOLDIER TRANSFERRED AGAIN TO SOKOTO FOR COURT MARTIAL – LAWYER ALLEGES

The Nigerian Army has transferred Lance Corporal Martins Idakpin to Sokoto in a bid to secretly arraign him before a court martial.

The disclosure was made by Tope Akinyode, Idakpin’s lawyer, on Saturday.

According to Akinyode, “Information reaching me right now indicates that Lance Corporal Martins has been surreptitiously moved from Abuja to Sokoto to be tried before a Martial court on Monday, where the Army is forcing a lawyer from within the Force on Lance Corporal Martins in a desperate attempt to jeopardize the case and wrongfully convict the detained soldier”.

He further said that, “Lance Corporal Martins has been brutalised and subjected to a great deal of dehumanising treatment. He was also denied food and therefore developed ulcer”.

Recall that Idakpin was arrested in June 2020.
ldakpein, from the 8 Division, Sokoto, of the Nigerian Army, had criticised the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai and other service chiefs in a viral video over the handling of the Boko Haram insurgency.

Subsequently, ldakpein was arrested and moved from Sokoto to Abuja. His wife, Victoria, was also arrested after she granted a media interview calling for the release of her husband.

However, an Abuja Federal High Court had ordered, in June, 2020, the Army to grant the detained soldier immediate access to his lawyer and family after Akinyode argued an ex parte application.

Justice Al Chikere held that it was a continuous breach of the detained soldier’s fundamental human rights to be denied access to his lawyer and family.

Akinyode who is also the National President of Revolutionary Lawyers’ Forum said the army refused to grant him access to his client despite being served copies of the court processes.

He further said,” We wrote the AGF and Chief of Army Staff to notify them of the court orders. I also called the AGF on phone and he assured me the court order would be obeyed. But myself and Lance Corporal Martins’ wife visited the Army Headquarters thrice to see my client, but were blocked”.

Akinyode who has vowed to resist the move by the Army, said refusal of the Nigerian Government to obey court orders ridicules the country in the global community.