A court-martial Thursday began hearing charges against 97 soldiers, including 16 officers, accused of mutiny, assault, cowardice and refusing to fight in the country's northeastern Islamic uprising.
Thursday's mass trial comes two weeks after 12 soldiers
were sentenced to death by firing squad for mutiny and attempted murder of
their commanding officer.
Troops regularly have complained that they are
outgunned by Boko Haram insurgents, that they are not paid in full and that
they are abandoned on the battlefield without enough ammunition or food.
Endemic corruption in Nigeria means millions of dollars goes missing from the
budget to fight the 5-year-old Islamic uprising that has killed thousands.
Some soldiers have told The Associated Press that some
of their colleagues collude with Boko Haram insurgents, giving them weapons and
information.
The uprising grabbed international attention with the
April kidnapping of more than 270 schoolgirls. Dozens escaped by the government
and military failure to rescue 219 still missing has brought condemnation.
President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday praised
soldiers for "inflicting devastating blows at the heart of terror" in
the uprising centered in the northeast though suicide and car bombs have killed
hundreds of people in northern cities and the central capital, Abuja
"Driven by patriotic zeal, they are turning the
tide by their prowess and determination," Jonathan said in a broadcast to
the nation marking 54 years of independence from Britain.
The Ministry of Defense and witnesses have reported
that recent punishing bombing raids and ground attacks have repelled the
insurgents and stopped them just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the northeast
city of Maiduguri, the birthplace of the Boko Haram extremists and headquarters
of the military campaign.
Boko Haram fighters last month seized a string of towns
where they have declared an Islamic caliphate, in the style of the Islamic
State group.
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