SOLOMON ODENIYI writes on the ordeals of nine cadets of Nigerian Defence Academy who were dismissed after their passing-out-parade and a court judgment which ordered their reinstatement.
In light of the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna ordering the Nigerian Defence Academy to reinstate nine cadets of the 67 Regular Course who were dismissed after their presidential commissioning on October 5, 2019, it remains to be seen whether or not the military authorities will obey the order.
About 52 cadets were initially dismissed for allegedly holding a night party after their passing-out parade officiated by Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo in 2019.
The cadets after exhausting all avenues without a positive result resorted to a lawsuit to which the NDA, the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Defence Staff, and the Minister of Defence among others were parties.
One of the moves earlier taken on behalf of the affected cadets by some of their parents was the involvement of the House of Representatives in the matter.
According to reports, upon the receipt of a petition, the House of Representatives in 2021 set up a committee to probe the matter and after concluding its investigation, it was discovered that 15 out of the affected cadets successfully graduated according to the handbook of the military institution.
The recommended 15 cadets comprised five naval, three air force, and seven army cadets.
They are DJ Mohammed, Y.Y Bello, D.O Adebayo, D.C Obioha, and U. Zakariyya, all naval cadets.
The Air Force cadets are A.H Timson, H.O Mohammed, and I. Salisu while in the Army cadets are: A. Yusuf, A.O Akiri, E.Y El Nathan, E. A Emmanuel, U.S Zango, U.S Kashim, and A.A Oyebanjo.
The resolution partly read, “That the 15 cadet officers in question had completed their courses of study, passed the prescribed examinations, and were graduated and convocated prior to the dossier review that indicted them. Against this backdrop, it is judiciously expedient that they should be given their academy certificates and posted to their various commands for onward redeployment.
“After their reinstatement, the 15 cadets should be accorded all the requisite courtesies and privileges due to them as officers of the Nigerian Army without any discrimination. “
Letters, which were served on the parties involved in the case, were said to have been written by the House of Representatives. With that done, the federal lawmakers’ resolutions were ignored by the Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi (retd) among others.
Also, when the Nigerian Defence Academy appeared for the defence of its 2022 budget, the House of Representatives Committee on Defence pleaded for the reinstatement of the cadets. But the appeal was rebuffed.
Mohammed Daura, the Maradin Daura of Katsina State, one of the parents of the affected cadets, severally stated that his son was innocent.
He said that his son was unjustly punished for refusing to do “some of the evil things in the NDA.”
Daura said, “ How can a cadet be convocated by the Vice President of Nigeria and you allowed him to go for Passing-Out-Parade. Then you now called him because he threw a party to thank Allah for allowing him to graduate from the NDA and you dismissed him? That was his offence.
“ As a result of that, the Deputy Commandant, Air Vice Marshall Kaita, went against the 2018 handbook and relegated them. They were relegated to go back to school and do what? Was it because my son was asked to do some of the evil things in the NDA and he refused? All these things were laid before the National Assembly.
“He (his son) said that after his convocation and the POP, they called him that they organised a party and granted an interview, so he was invited to the Adjutant’s office. From the Adjutant’s office, he was taken straight to the cell and locked up for six days for an offence that he was not aware of but was only told he conducted an interview. He said he appreciated God for the successful completion of the NDA without any problem. However, in a court of law, no law says you should lock somebody up for more than 24 hours without trial.
“ After that, the Deputy Commandant relegated him when he had already passed out, which violated the 2018 handbook that said that the Deputy Commandant has no right to relegate any cadets.
Vouching for his son and others, he said they had not committed any offence before their dismissal.
He said, “They should go and find out that none of the children had done anything incriminating or involved in examination malpractices all through their period in the NDA, none of them abused any officer in NDA and none of them smoked nor drank alcohol, or were even caught in the act of going after ladies in the NDA. What they did to them was an act of wickedness. “
Daura was the one who filed the case at the Kaduna high court on behalf of nine of the 15 affected cadets.
The court ordered the military institution to pay the accrued entitlements of the affected officers from the date of the dismissal.
While delivering a 50-page judgment, the presiding Judge, Justice Muhammad Umar, said the NDA’s action was “unconstitutional, unlawful and amounts to conviction to trial”.
He was quoted as saying, “The plaintiffs are entitled to be heard before any disciplinary action can be taken against them and there is no place in the proceedings of the defendants that the plaintiffs were granted fair hearing by the NDA before their dismissal. This is unconstitutional.”
“The action of the defendants to withdraw the plaintiffs after their graduation is unconstitutional, unlawful, and amounts to a conviction of trial. The plaintiff should immediately be reinstated and their degrees and entitlements should be awarded and paid for having participated in the PoP”.
The defence counsel, Al-Amin Abubakar, said his client would review the judgment to decide on the next line of action.
He said, “My clients will decide on the next step to take. We will relate the judgment to them, they will review it and decide on what to do next. There are many options available to them, so I believe they will look at the law and take it up within the confines of the law.”
Apart from Duara’s suit, two of the affected cadets Ahmad Lawal and Anthony Oranu, dragged the Nigerian Defence Academy before the National Industrial Court, Abuja in July 2021.
The duo prayed the court to declare that their withdrawal was done in contravention of relevant provisions of the NDA Handbook on Discipline and General Administration 2018 ( Revised), the NDA Act, and the Armed Forces Act Cap A20 LFN 2004.
They are also seeking a court order reinstating them to status quo, by vesting upon them their rightful seniority on rank and seniority on the arm of bars commensurate with their year of commencement of cadet training and payment of their accrued entitlements and emoluments. The matter has yet to be determined.
Several calls to the line of the spokesperson for the NDA, Victor Olukoya, were not answered. He had also yet to respond to the text message sent as of the time of filing this report. Our correspondent had sought to know if the NDA would appeal the judgment or reinstate the cadets.
The Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, when contacted said he was out of the country.
However, a top military source provided insight into the possibility of recalling the cadets.
The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, told our correspondent that the dismissed cadets could still be reinstated.
The source said such was not common, adding that their dismissals could still be reviewed.
The source said,” A Cadet who was in his final year was once dismissed and reinstated. Most times it is a discrete thing. It is also not common but rules can be bent. Cases are often reviewed based on interest. If this administration dismisses someone, another administration can reinstate the person. So most times it is not absolute
The current administration has undone several dismissals and demotions by the last. “
Commenting on this, Rasheed Adegoke, SAN, said the military authorities had a penchant for disobeying court orders, saying the judgement might be flagrantly disregarded.
He said, “Once there is a judgment it is meant to be obeyed till you exhaust options to appeal. In Nigeria, there are institutions that are recalcitrant and obstinate and believe they are above the law. The military is one of them. Whatever judgment is pronounced on a matter involving them, they do not obey. I have had judgments against them that they are yet to comply with. Is this how the military does in civilised climes?
The irony of this is that the officers exhibiting this arrogance run to the court after they retire and are being dealt with. It is very sad, and we have to tell them in brute language that they are a product of the Constitution, they need to be better trained on how to respect the rule of law. Yes, you want to instil discipline in your institution, but you must bow to the superior wisdom of the law. That institution cannot be above the law, they should call themselves to order. We are not a lawless country. “
