The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to grant presidential pardon to the 54 soldiers who are currently serving a 10-year jail term.
The Islamic human rights organization made the appeal in a
press statement issued on Monday signed by its Director, Professor Ishaq
Akintola.
The 54 soldiers were rounded up in 2014 when they complained
to their commander that their weapons were too poor to confront better equipped
Boko Haram fighters.
They had earlier lost 23 men and four officers due to poor
equipment when they advanced on Damboa on July 9, 2014.
MURIC said it is “deeply concerned about the plight of these
heroes of Nigeria who have been wrongly treated. Yes, we strongly believe that they
have been wrongly treated. They had defended Nigeria on several fronts before
the incident. Their comrades fell on the battle field in their presence.
“While other soldiers knew that money meant for weapons were
being syphoned into private pockets of top officers but chose to remain quiet,
the gallantry and patriotism in the 54 soldiers motivated them to speak up and
demand better weapons. Their demand actually exposed the rot in the top
military hierarchy regarding the high level corruption involving the diversion
of funds meant for weapons.
“It was the eye-opener that led to the popular case of $2.1
billion weapons fund diverted to the 2015 electioneering campaign by the then
ruling party. It is therefore paradoxical that the 54 soldiers who exposed
corruption in the military are now rotting in jail.
“We in MURIC have been calling for their release since 2015.
We have issued several statements on the matter but to no avail. What kind of
people are we in this country? How can we leave our heroes to rot in jail? How
can we allow the defenders of our territorial integrity to suffer years of
alienation and deprivation?”
The organization revealed that it had met the Nigerian Vice
President on the matter and also sent a petition to his office at Aso Rock.
Akintola said, “The leadership of MURIC went beyond issuing
press statements on this matter. We met Vice President Yemi Osinbajo during his
visit to Lagos around November 2018 and tabled the case of the 54 soldiers
before him.
“The Vice President showed understanding and requested that
we should send a petition to his office. We did that within one week and his
office responded. We were hopeful. That was about six months ago. Justice
delayed is justice denied.
“The Presidential Committee on Prisons Reform and
Decongestion (PCPRD) which was inaugurated on Tuesday 28th August, 2018 has
freed about 5,000 prisoners but not a single one of them is among the 54
soldiers. The PCPRD, headed by Justice Ishaq Bello, has reportedly visited 15
states. We are not certain that the committee has seen the 54 soldiers.
“There is no better time for President Muhammadu Buhari to
invoke the prerogative of mercy on the 54 soldiers than now. The month of
Ramadan is the month of mercy. It is the month of giving and sharing.”
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