Metro
Court orders reinstatement of 70 pardoned soldiers
The National Industrial Court in Lagos has ordered the Nigerian Army to reinstate 70 soldiers dismissed after their conviction for mutiny in 2014, ruling that the presidential pardon granted by former President Muhammadu Buhari restored their legal status and entitlement to military service.
Justice S.A. Yelwa held that the unconditional pardon, granted under Section 175 of the 1999 Constitution, completely erased the soldiers’ convictions, sentences and dismissals, making their continued exclusion from the Army unlawful.
The court directed the Chief of Army Staff to immediately reinstate the affected personnel with effect from July 18, 2022—the date the presidential pardon took effect—and ordered the payment of all salaries, allowances and other entitlements from that date until their actual reinstatement.
Justice Yelwa ruled that “the legal barrier to their employment has been completely swept away by the constitutional grace of the pardon,” adding that the soldiers had “a clear, enforceable right to be reinstated.”
The 70 soldiers were among military
personnel tried by various courts-martial in 2014 on charges bordering on conspiracy and mutiny.
Although they were initially sentenced to death, the punishment was later commuted to 10 years’ imprisonment before they received an unconditional presidential pardon in 2022.
The suit was instituted after the soldiers, through their lawyers at Falana & Falana Chambers, alleged that the Nigerian Army failed to act on their request for reinstatement despite the presidential pardon.
They had sought reinstatement and payment of salaries dating back to their dismissal in 2014.
While granting reinstatement, the court declined their request for salary arrears covering the period between December 2014 and July 17, 2022, holding that they were not entitled to wages for the years they neither served in the Army nor performed official duties while serving prison terms.
