How Nigerian Army Chief tussle triggered theft of ‘billions’ by soldiers – General
A military court-martial for the troubled Nigerian Army major-general, Hakeem Otiki, opened on a very personal note in Abuja on Tuesday, with the defence team labouring to cast the case as springing from a protracted resentment rather than merely another manifestation of endemic corruption in the military.
The defence argued that a bitter rivalry was at the root of the scandal and the man appointed to lead the court-martial, Lamidi Adeosun, a lieutenant-general, was not suited for purpose because of a conflict of interest.
Although the defence did not elaborate on the cause of the rivalry, a senior army officer close to the two officers involved said it was over who would take over from the current Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, a lieutenant-general.
Mr Otiki is the army chief at the heart of the large cash heist executed by Nigerian soldiers in July. He was the general officer commanding of the Nigerian Army 8 Division in Sokoto when he sent five soldiers in his detail to haul some cash from Sokoto to Abuja via Kaduna.
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PREMIUM TIMES broke the story of the embarrassing development mid-July. Military sources said at the time that the money was in billions. Although the Nigerian Army has not publicly commented on the theft or disclosed the amount involved, some news reports have put it at N800 million, while some went with N600 million and others cited N400 million.
The soldiers were asked to convey the mysterious cash by road from Sokoto to Kaduna, where a military jet had been prepared to transfer the cash to Abuja from an airfield.
It was during the stop in Kaduna for the transfer that the five soldiers accompanying the money, whose source remained unknown, plotted to steal it and desert military service instead. The soldiers had remained at large, and it was unclear whether or not any of them had been taken into custody.
Mr Otiki was summarily arrested after the theft and kept in a house arrest, where he was interrogated by the military. A court-martial to try him over the scandal opened at the Nigerian Army Officers’ Mess in Asokoro, Abuja, on Tuesday afternoon.
Source: Premium Times
