The Nigerian Army has vowed to sanction some detained soldiers who protested “overcrowded cells and poor feeding” at the Sokoto barracks detention facility.
In a statement on Saturday, a spokesman for the Army, Major General Onyema Nwachukwu said the authorities have taken note of the viral video produced by some of its personnel held in custody at the 8 Division Garrison detention facility.
Part of the statement reads, “Undoubtedly, the Sokoto barracks detention facility incident is quite unfortunate and an embarrassment to the sound administration efforts of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), to say the least, and in line with his leadership style, the COAS has instituted an appropriate investigation into the incident to determine whether it is an isolated or widespread situation in similar detention facilities.
“While the service regrets and has gleaned some lessons from the incident, it will however not condone the manner the inmates expressed their purported grievance,” the statement partly read.
The Army described as “mutiny and conduct prejudicial to service order”, the actions of the detained soldiers. The Army said such “grievous misconducts” won’t be tolerated.
It said the directives of the Army chief Lt. Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja to look into the state of all Army detention facilities in the country would be implemented “as detainees’ lives also matter”.
