BRIGADIER Enitan Ransome-Kuti has been sentenced to six months imprisonment by a military court in Abuja for abandoning his duty post and fleeing in a cowardly manner in the face of a Boko Haram attack.

In March, Brigadier Ransome-Kuti, the son of human rights activist Beko Ransome-Kuti and the nephew of Afrobeat king Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, was one of 21 officers charged by the Nigerian Army before a military court martial. They were subsequently tried for negligence and complicity during the invasion of the 21 Artillery Brigade, Bama, on September 2, 2014 by Boko Haram.

During the terrorist attack, the soldiers abandoned their weapons and fled, leaving the terrorists to easily occupy the facility. This was despite the fact that the troops outnumbered them and were better equipped, meaning they could easily have fought off the attack had they put up a fight.

Yesterday, the military court martial which sat in Abuja delivered its verdict, sending Brigadier Ransome-Kuti to jail for six months.  He will be dismissed from the military upon his release from prison if the sentence pronounced on him is confirmed by the Nigerian Army.

Brigadier Ransome-Kuti was accused of failing to perform his military duties during the fight against Boko Haram. Included in the charges against him is that he failed to account for the weapons and ammunitions under his supervision, rendering the army useless in the fight against Boko Haram.

During a long trial, his lawyer, Femi Falana, presented evidence to the court showing that the Nigerian Army had simply failed to provide the necessary equipment for the brigadier to perform his lawful duties. Mr Falana also presented several statements from officers and soldiers who repeatedly stated that the army was ill-equipped to fight Boko Haram.

Despite the fact that this assertion was later affirmed by a former chief of defence staff Air Marshall Alex Badeh, the court martial still found Brigadier Ransome-Kuti guilty. Since assuming office on May 29, President Muhammadu Buhari has made equipping the military one of his main priorities and has given the army until December to finish off Boko Haram.