On Tuesday, the 23rd of September, 2025, a Special Court-Martial of the Nigerian Army sitting in Maiduguri, Borno State, sentenced three soldiers to life imprisonment after finding them guilty of involvement in arms and ammunition racketeering.
The convicted soldiers are Sergeant Raphael Ameh, Sergeant Ejiga Musa, and Lance Corporal Patrick Ocheje.
A fourth soldier, Corporal Omitoye Rufus, was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for related offences.
The court, convened at the 7 Division, Sector 1 of Operation Hadin Kai, found that the soldiers engaged in the theft and illegal sale of arms, unlawful possession of military ammunition, and acts considered prejudicial to service discipline.
Evidence presented during trial showed that Sergeant Ameh, who served as an armourer, conspired with the late Lance Corporal Ogbogo Isaac and two police officers, Inspectors Francis Ajayi and Francis Manasseh, to divert weapons from the division’s armoury.
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Investigators disclosed that the stolen arms were transported to Enugu and Ebonyi states, hidden inside food sacks to avoid detection.
The court also examined financial records showing more than one hundred suspicious bank transactions linked to Ameh between July of 2022 and June of 2024, strengthening the prosecution’s case of sustained involvement in arms trafficking.
In delivering judgment, the court described the soldiers’ conduct as a grave breach of military trust that endangered national security and aided criminal elements in the North-East.