Shockingly, Mr. Falana also said that it has been more than one week since any of them have been fed food. “If any of these men die then it is a direct extrajudicial killing, not permissible by law,” he told SaharaTV correspondent Kwesi Baako.
SaharaReporters received a phone call from a soldier currently detained in an underground cell in Lagos. The soldier successfully obtained a mobile phone, which he used in attempt to reach SaharaReporters pleading for help.
This soldier, who chose to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, spoke briefly with SaharaTV correspondent Kwesi Baako before losing phone connection. This soldier said that he, along with 66 others who were arrested with him, were requested legal assistance from Femi Falana because of maltreatment in military custody.
Femi Falana, a renowned human rights lawyer in Nigeria, told SaharaTV that “I am in touch with 12 soldiers,” and that “I am taking up their complaints which is that they are being starved and dehumanized by the military authority that are supposed to have taken them to the jail house.”
Mr. Falana told SaharaTV that the arrested soldiers are “being kept in an underground cell somewhere in Lagos” and not in a jail. He added that they have not been allowed to contact families or receive due legal process.
“Under the Armed Forces Act, soldiers who are convicted of any offence whatsoever and sentenced by the court marshals are entitled to appeal to the court of appeal after the authorities might have confirmed the sentencing,” he said.
Shockingly, Mr. Falana also said that it has been more than one week since any of them have been fed food. “If any of these men die then it is a direct extrajudicial killing, not permissible by law,” he told SaharaTV correspondent Kwesi Baako.
The 66 soldiers in question were arrested and charged with mutiny by a military tribunal. The soldiers say that they were being put out for slaughter by the military because they were forced to fight Boko Haram without equipment.