The Supreme Court has discharged and acquitted Nigerian Army sergeant Akawu Bala from the death sentence imposed by the General Court Martial of the Nigerian Army.
According to the Daily Post, Bala had spent 12 years in Kaduna prison awaiting ratification of his death sentence. Sergeant Bala was accused of shooting Isa Mohammed on December 9, 2012, at an African Petroleum Station in Sabon Tasha, Kaduna, leading to Mohammed’s death the next day.
Initially convicted of murder under Section 106 of the Armed Forces Act 2014, Bala was sentenced to death by hanging.
His appeal was upheld by the Court of Appeal in Kaduna in 2017, declaring his trial a nullity due to a procedural flaw but did not discharge him, prompting further appeal.
The Supreme Court, led by Justice Helen Morenikeji Ogunwumiju, invoked Section 193 of the Armed Forces Act 2014, which prohibits retrial after a voided trial, setting Bala free. The court ordered his immediate release from Kaduna prison, rejecting the Nigerian Army’s request for a retrial in the interest of justice.