By Michael Olugbode
A soldier, Corporal Aliyu Yakubu, has been dismissed from the Nigerian Army and sentenced to five years imprisonment for rape and assault by a court martial in Maiduguri.
Yakubu, who was tried by the Nigerian Army 7 Division Court Martial, Operation Lafiya Dole, for raping a minor (15-year-old girl) at an uncompleted building behind a prison yard in Bama, Borno State, on July 1, 2018.
The accused was serving with 202 Tank Battalion in the ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast.
President of the General Court Martial, Brig-Gen. Ekubi Arikpo, who passed the judgment yesterday at the Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri, said the five-year jail term and dismissal are for count one and two charges against Yakubu.
Arikpo said: “The sentencing and dismissal of Corporal Yukubu from service are according to Armed Forces Act (AFA), 2004, section 78 and section 10, subsection 2A,” noting that five witnesses testified before the court with 10 exhibits received.
Arikpo said that the offence of rape and assault, contradict the military professional operations of fighting Boko Haram insurgency in Borno State, which the accused stood guilt of.
He noted that one of the exhibits presented before the court include a medical report of rape.
