The military rejected the navy’s assessment of violations

The Defense Headquarters (DHQ) has confirmed the dismissal of former Seaman Abbas Haruna for gross misconduct.

The Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Musa, recently ordered an investigation into the alleged illegal detention of a former naval officer by a senior officer.

Acting Director of Defense Information Brig. Tukur Gusau, confirmed the development at a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja.

He said the former naval rating pleaded guilty to the charges at trial.

The spokesperson added that Haruna was tried fairly and discharged by a military court under the provisions of the Armed Forces Act.

Gusau said that the former sailor with service number M5759 last served in Exercise AYAM AKPATUMA, a joint operation under DHQ.

He said: “The case involving Haruna began when he was found behaving indecently during a parade at the Commanders (CO) coordination conference, who was addressing troops preparing for the operation.

“While the CO was delivering a speech to the troops, the former naval officer kept interrupting the speech, so the officer had to direct him to report to the guard room.

“The former sailor refused to comply with orders which prompted the commander to order his arrest. He resisted and took out 16 rounds of NN’s 7.62 mm ammunition to prevent other soldiers from detaining him.

“He was tried at the General Court-Martial (GCM) from 20 December 2022 to 7 February 2023.

“In particular, the trial of Former Sailor Abbas Haruna M5759 by the GCM was based on the authority that as military personnel, he was subject to military and civil law.

“Therefore, at the end of the trial, the GCM found Former Seaman Abbas Haruna M5759 guilty on all charges.

Based on this, he was sentenced to a reduction in tariff from a seaman to an ordinary seaman on count one and dismissal with disgrace on counts 2 and 3, which will take effect from February 7 2023.

“Thereafter, the former rating officer was placed under open arrest at the arrivals hall in Mogadishu Cantonment, Abuja, awaiting confirmation of sentence from the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS).

“The Record of Process (ROP) of the trial was forwarded to DHQ on 27 June 2023, and then sent to Naval Headquarters (NHQ) on 8 August 2023.

“GCM’s sentence was later confirmed by CNS and takes effect from 19 September 2024.”

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