A Special Court Martial of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, Borno State, has sentenced three soldiers to life imprisonment and another to 15 years for their involvement in an arms and ammunition racket that supplied weapons to criminals and militias.
The trial, presided over by Brigadier General Ugochukwu Unachukwu, acting General Officer Commanding 7 Division and commander of Sector 1, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), was conducted at the officers’ mess, Theatre Command Headquarters in Maiduguri.
Delivering the verdict, Brigadier General Mohammed Abdullahi, president of the court-martial, sentenced Sergeant Raphael Ameh, Sergeant Ejiga Musa, and Lance Corporal Patrick Ocheje to life imprisonment, while Corporal Omitoye Rufus received a 15-year jail term.
The soldiers were convicted on charges ranging from theft and illegal dealings in ammunition to aiding the enemy, offences punishable under the Armed Forces Act.
Ameh, an armourer at 7 Division Garrison, was found guilty of conspiring with a deceased colleague to steal ammunition from the armoury.
He worked with police officers to hide weapons in bags of beans and transport them to Enugu and Ebonyi for criminal use.
Abdullahi said bank records revealed over 100 suspicious transactions tied to the racket between July 2022 and June 2024.
Musa, while serving as armourer of 195 Battalion, was found guilty of collaborating with Ocheje and police officers to sell an AK-47 rifle and large amounts of ammunition. Records showed he received more than ₦500,000 before being caught attempting another sale.
Rufus was convicted of selling 40 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition to a police officer.
Ocheje, deployed at a forward operating base in Molai, was found guilty of diverting ammunition during communal clashes at the request of a police officer. He also stole an AK-47 rifle from a colleague.
The court held that their actions endangered military operations and national security, amounting to “aiding the enemy.”
Abdullahi condemned the convicts as “bad eggs” who betrayed the trust, discipline, and honour required of soldiers battling insurgency.
He reaffirmed the army’s zero-tolerance stance on selling arms or ammunition to adversaries “in whatever form or guise.”
