A Special Court-Martial convened by the Acting General Officer Commanding 7 Division of the Nigerian Army and Sector 1 Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), Brigadier General Ugochukwu Unachukwu, has convicted four soldiers for arms and ammunition racketeering as well as aiding and abetting terrorism.
The charges against them included theft, unlawful dealing in ammunition, offences relating to service property, and aiding the enemy — all punishable under the Armed Forces Act (AFA), Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) CAP A20, 2004, and other extant laws.
Delivering judgment at the Headquarters Theatre Command Officers’ Mess, Maiduguri, the Court President, Brigadier General Mohammed Abdullahi, announced that Sgt. Raphael Ameh, Sgt. Ejiga Musa, and LCpl. Patrick Ocheje were sentenced to life imprisonment, while Cpl. Omitoye Rufus received 15 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to several charges.
In the case of Sgt. Raphael Ameh, documentary evidence revealed that as an armourer with 7 Division Garrison, he conspired with the late LCpl. Ogbogo Isaac to steal ammunition from the Division’s arms store. He was found to have collaborated with Inspector Francis Ajayi and Francis Manasseh of 30 Police Mobile Force (PMF) to conceal arms in bags of beans, smuggling them into Enugu and Ebonyi States for criminal use. Investigations further showed that Sgt. Ameh received the proceeds of this illegal trade through over 100 bank transactions between July 2022 and June 2024.
For Sgt. Ejiga Musa, the court found that while serving as 195 Battalion’s main armourer, he stole weapons and worked with LCpl. Ocheje and Inspector Francis Manasseh of 30 PMF to sell an AK-47 rifle and a large quantity of ammunition. Records showed he collected over ₦500,000 from the transactions. His activities came to light when he attempted to sell ammunition to Inspector Francis Ajayi, also of 30 PMF.
Cpl. Omitoye Rufus was convicted for selling 40 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition to Inspector Enoch Nwokolobia.
Similarly, LCpl. Patrick Ocheje, while deployed at Forward Operating Base Molai, was persuaded by Inspector Francis Manasseh to divert ammunition for sale to militias during communal crises. Investigations also revealed that Ocheje received 20 rounds of PKT ammunition from Sgt. Ejiga Musa for sale to terrorist groups in collaboration with Inspector Ajayi. He was additionally found guilty of stealing an AK-47 rifle belonging to a fellow soldier.
The court ruled that the illicit trade endangered troops, undermined military operations, and threatened national security, thereby amounting to “aiding the enemy.”
Brig.-Gen. Abdullahi condemned the actions of the convicted soldiers, describing them as “bad eggs” whose conduct amounted to betrayal of the trust, discipline, and honour expected of personnel in the theatre of operations.
He reiterated the Nigerian Army’s zero-tolerance stance, declaring: “The activities of these bad eggs were not only a violation of the law but a betrayal of the trust, discipline, and honour expected of our troops. The Army will never tolerate the selling of ammunition to adversaries or anybody in whatever guise or form.”
