12 Soldiers Sentenced To Death Are Kept In Horrible Conditions.

Soldiers facing trial for mutiny in September 2014 

A group of Nigerian soldiers that were arrested last year on charges of mutiny and attempted murder have reportedly contacted the media via text messages to reveal the conditions under which they are being held.

According to the Shara Reporters, the soldiers who have been in custody since September 2014 managed to contact the outside world.

The Shara Reporters informs that in an initial message they sent to a reporter was the following text:
“Greetings sir, we are the 12 soldiers sentenced to death \others detained at CIC Apapa, Lagos. We are to inform you that following our denial of access to our families, councils & even access to fund [sic] to feed our families\pay our legal fees, that as you know, we had been concealing our cell phone to help us hear from counsels.

“The phone was collected on 6\5\15, in view of this, we have not been fed, We are on hand-cuff & leg chain, we are kept naked [sic] & deprived of even drinking water. As it stands now sir, our lives are at stake. We, therefore, plead with due respect that you intervene”.
It was reported that an attempt to contact soldiers via the phone number failed. However, after a while, one of the accused sent a voice call with a frantic message. “They are trying to kill us. They want to kill us,” the voice said.

Moreover, the voice said that the authorities have noticed that they have access to a cell phone and have therefore punished them by starvation. He said they had not been fed nor given any water for about five days.

“Is not OK, they want to kill us with bitting [sic] starvation since 4 days we have not eating [sic] any food pls help us we are the 12 soldiers they sentenced last year,” another text message said.
Meanwhile, attempts to contact the military high command for comment wasn’t successful, the report stated.

It would be recalled that last year 12 soldiers were subsequently charged with mutiny and attempted murder and sentenced to death for allegedly refusing to confront Boko Haram militants and firing at their commanding officer in the northeastern city of Maiduguri in May.

The soldiers were reportedly angry after a convoy was ambushed on a road frequently targeted by Boko Haram militants and decided to protest to the authorities who they blamed for underequipped and underpaying them.