The soldiers were accused of refusing to deploy to recapture three towns seized by Nigeria’s home-grown terror group Boko Haram last August.

The lawyer for the condemned men, Femi Falana, says 54 soldiers were convicted and sentenced to death by firing squad. He says five soldiers were acquitted.

They all were accused of conspiring to commit mutiny against the authorities of 7 Division, which is on the front line of the counter-insurgency.

Twelve soldiers were sentenced to death for mutiny in September.

Nigerian troops regularly complain that they are outgunned by Boko Haram, they are not paid in full and they are abandoned on the battlefield without enough ammunition or food.

The post Death sentence for Nigerian troops who refused to fight Boko Haram appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.