Buhari pardons Beko Ransome-Kuti’s son, others over Boko Haram raid

President Muhammadu Buhari has granted state pardon to Enitan Ransome-Kuti, the former military Commander of the Multinational Joint Task Force, who was convicted by a Special Court Martial in January 2015.

Enitan, is the son of the late human rights activist, Beko Ransome-Kuti, and a nephew of the late Afrobeat maestro, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti.

The former military commander was among the 162 prisoners pardoned by the National Council of State at a meeting presided over by the Nigerian leader on Thursday.

He was arrested in early 2015 and tried by the special court martial for cowardice, while serving as Commander of a Joint Multinational Task Force in Baga.

The former officer was later punished for his “failure to perform military duties” and sentenced to six months imprisonment and reduction in rank from Brigadier-General to Colonel.

READ ALSO: Exonerate and reinstate Brigadier Enitan Ransome Kuti – BRK pleads

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, was his lawyer and over 60 soldiers at the Special Court Martial, wrote letters to have their punishments set aside.

The Army Council would later quash the six months’ imprisonment passed on Mr Ransome Kuti and commute the death penalty imposed on the other 60 soldiers to 10 years jail term based on Mr Falana’s letters.

Falana also wrote to other relevant authorities including the presidential committee on prerogative of mercy to seek their pardon.

The senior lawyer argued that his clients’ conviction by the court martial was baseless in the face of evidence that they were deprived of arms to fight at the peak of the Boko Haram war.

The full list of those pardoned is not immediately available, but sources confirmed that the soldiers convicted of mutiny constituted a bulk of them.

Sources also said among beneficiaries are a former army lieutenant colonel, Oluwole Akinyole, who was granted posthumous pardon and a former military general and minister under the Sani Abacha regime, Tajudeen Olanrewaju.

Speaking on Saturday, Mr Falana said the implication of the pardon is that Mr Ransome-Kuti, 57, can return to service and regain his brigadier-general rank.

“With this pardon, the record of conviction of the other soldiers has been obliterated and can go back to service if they wish to,” Mr Falana added.

The Nigerian military charged Mr Ransome-Kuti, and four other senior officers to a special court, blaming them for the loss of Baga in Borno State, to Boko Haram insurgents in January 2015.

The Army said the officers failed to repel a Boko Haram attack on the headquarters of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) in Baga.

Ransome-Kuti was the commander of the multinational force during the attack.

During his trial, the officer denied all the charges, with his lawyer arguing that the Nigerian Army failed in its duties to provide the necessary equipment in the war against insurgency.

On October 15, 2015, a military court-martial sitting in Abuja, convicted Mr Ransome Kuti, of alleged offences during the war against Boko Haram – a sentence that earned him a six month prison term.

After his conviction and imprisonment, his lawyer, Mr Falana, requested Mr Ransome-Kuti’s release pending the determination of his appeal, a request that was turned down by the military authorities.

Subsequently, Mr Falana, petitioned the Army authorities demanding his freedom, saying his client was still held in prison custody despite completing his jail term.

By 2017, Mr Ransome-Kuti and other military officers convicted and sentenced to various categories of punishment by various courts martial appealed to the Presidential Investigation Panel to Review Compliance of the Armed Forces with Human RightsnObligations and Rules of Engagement to hear their complaints against the Nigerian Army.

The soldiers claimed to have been illegally tried and convicted by the court martial for demanding weapons for counter-insurgency operations in the North-East region.

The panel, on September 12 2017, rejected the petitions of the soldiers on the grounds that their matters were pending appeals before the Court of Appeal. The panel added that such a petition was outside its terms of reference.

At least 27 inmates and one deceased ex-convict were recommended for presidential clemency.

Other beneficiaries are 13 inmates recommended for reduced sentences and 10 inmates recommended for reduced sentences from death row to life imprisonment.