By Kingsley Omonobi

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) announced on Wednesday that a Military General Court-Martial found Ex-Seaman Abbas Haruna guilty of three charges: disobedience to orders, resisting arrest, and offences relating to public service property.

Haruna was sentenced to a rank reduction from Able Seaman to Ordinary Seaman on the first count, and dismissal with ignominy on the second and third counts, effective 7 February 2023.

Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, Director of Defence Information, disclosed the ruling during a briefing in Abuja, noting that Haruna, with service number N-5759, was found guilty under Sections 56(1), 86(1), and 66(C) of the Armed Forces Act, CAP 820, Laws of the Federation, 2004, and has been dismissed from service.

The case stemmed from Haruna’s misconduct during a parade, where he was part of a coordinating conference of the commanding officer addressing troops preparing for Operation Ayam Akpatuma.

He explained that during the commanding officer’s address to the troops, the ex-rating repeatedly interrupted, prompting the officer to order him to report to the guardroom. However, the ex-rating refused to comply.

As a result, the commanding officer instructed his arrest, but the ex-rating resisted, opening fire and expending 16 rounds of ammunition belonging to the Nigerian Navy, attempting to prevent other soldiers from detaining him.

An investigation followed, and the ex-rating was recommended for trial by court-martial. He was eventually tried by a general court-martial from 20 December 2022 to 7 February 2023.

Brig General Gusau pointed out that the trial of Ex-Seaman Abbas Haruna by the general court-martial was based on the authority that, as serving personnel, he was subject to military laws.

He emphasised that Ex-Seaman Haruna was arraigned before the general court-martial on three count charges of disobedience to particular orders, resistance to arrest, and offenses about public service property, contrary to Section 56, Subsection 1, Section 86, Subsection 1, and Section 66, Subsection C of the Armed Forces Act, CAF 820, Laws of the Federation, 2004, respectively.

“At the trial, the general court-martial deliberated on the testimonies of the prosecution and defense witnesses, as well as the exhibits tendered by the prosecution surrounding the circumstances of the case. It is therefore important to note that the ex-rating pleaded “NOT” guilty to all charges during the trial at first then later pleaded guilty.

“The general court-martial therefore considered the nature of the offense committed by the ex-raiding, his plea of guilty, and plea for mitigation of punishment, as well as the legal advice of the judge-advocate in arriving at its verdict.

“Thereafter, the ex-rating was placed on open arrest at the Arrival Hall in Mogadishu Cantonment, pending confirmation of the sentencing by the appropriate superior authority.

“Based on this, he has access to even his family, as can be attested during the appearance of his wife on a radio station. She said she had access to him.

“She even had babies for him within the period he was under open arrest. The record of proceedings of the trial was forwarded to Defense Headquarters on 27 June 2023, and subsequently transmitted to Naval Headquarters on 8 August 2023.

The sentences of the court-martial were thereafter confirmed by the Chief of Naval Staff with effect from 19 September 2024.” He said.

The ex-rating, according to Brig-General Gusau was represented by a defense counsel of his choice in the name of Barrister Chukwu N. Augustine and Barrister Goji Esquire.

Initially, he pleaded not guilty to the charges during arraignment. However, before the prosecution could call their witnesses to establish their case against the ex-rating, his counsel made an application to the effect that the ex-rating wanted to change his plea.

The application was granted and the ex-rating changed his plea to guilty, thereby necessitating rearrangement. Despite the change of plea to guilty, the prosecution led evidence by highlighting the various elements of each of the charges to be proved beyond reasonable doubt to secure conviction against the ex-rating.

“At the end of the proceedings, the general court-martial found the ex-rating guilty on the three counts. A, common element that affects the jurisdiction of the general court-martial which must be proved in this fact is that the ex-rating was subject to service law at the time of the alleged offences.

“Gusau said, This was established by the prosecution and admitted by the ex-raiding. The other ingredients which the prosecution was required to prove to secure a conviction in respect of the ex-rating were that he disobeyed a lawful authority, resisted arrest, and willfully damaged to service property. Those ingredients were sufficiently established before the court and were neither challenged by the ex-rating nor his lawyers.

“It is pertinent to note that from the totality of evidence presented by the prosecution, the general court-martial held that the ingredients required to substantiate the offenses were proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Importantly, a perusal of the report of the prosecution confirmed that the ex-rating disobeyed the order of his commanding officer, and resisted arrest by firing his rifle to the extent that he expended 16 rounds of ammunition which could have resulted in the death of any of his colleagues around there. The action of the ex-rating was in no doubt an act of gross indiscipline capable of taking the lives of his colleagues.

“It is therefore evident that the ex-rating cannot be trusted with a rifle or any weapon belonging to the armed forces of Nigeria. This is because soldiers, ratings, and aircraft men are trained for the purpose of weapon handling to apply the same judiciously and diligently when called upon for the protection of the sovereignty of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not extraneous uses that could endanger others.

” Pertinently, it is obvious that the ex-rating ought to have also been charged for the attempted murder of everyone that was in the vicinity when he fired the shots.

“Notwithstanding, he was appropriately charged, tried, found guilty, and sentenced on three count charges presented before the general court-martial. Furthermore, the confirming authority rightly confirmed the findings and sentencing in line with the Armed Forces Act.

It would be recalled that a fortnight ago, the Chief of Defence Staff gave a directive that the case of Seaman Abbas Haruna, should be well investigated after his wife went to a Radio station to make an allegation that her husband was being unjustifiably detained by his superiors.

A video clip of the court Marshal proceedings was shown during the briefing which clearly showed that the wife of the Naval personnel was present at the General Court Martial.