Three soldiers bag life jail for arms racketeering in Borno

Troops

A Nigerian Army Special Court-Martial has sentenced three soldiers to life imprisonment for illegal arms trafficking and “aiding and abetting the enemy”

In a statement on Tuesday, the 7 Division’s Acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, Lieutenant Colonel Haruna Sani, said one other soldier bagged a 15-year jail term.

He said the four soldiers were found guilty of stealing and selling military-grade weapons and ammunition, with some items allegedly smuggled across state lines hidden in bags of food.

The statement reads, “The Special Court Martial (SCM) convened by the Acting General Officer Commanding 7 Division Nigerian Army and Sector 1 Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK) Brigadier General Ugochukwu Unachukwu has slammed, 2 Senior Non-commissioned Officers and 2 Non-Commissioned Officers for Arms/Ammunition racketeering as well as Aiding and Abetting the Enemy.

“Pronouncing the verdict during the proceeding at Headquarters Theatre Command Officers’ Mess in Maiduguri, on 18 September 2025, the President SCM Brigadier General Mohammed Abdullahi stated that, the Court-Martial convicted Sgt Rapheal Ameh, Sgt Ejiga Musa, and LCpl Patrick Ocheje to life imprisonments while Cpl Omitoye Rufus was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to several counts charges ranging from theft, unlawful dealing in ammunition, offence in relation to Service Property as well as aiding the enemy which are all punishable under the relevant sections of the Armed Forces Act (AFA) Law of Federation of Nigeria (LFN) CAP A20 2004 and other extant laws” it added.

Providing further details, Haruna said, in the case of Sgt Ameh Raphael, a documentary evidence admitted before the Court revealed that as an Armourer with 7 Division Garrison, the SNCO conspired with late LCpl Ogbogo Isaac to pilfer ammunition from the Division arms store.

” It was further revealed that he collaborated with one Inspector Francis Ajayi and Francis Manasseh, all of the 30 Police Mobile Force (PMF), to conceal arms in bags of beans and smuggled them to Enugu and Ebonyi states for use by criminals.