News
Supreme Court Dismisses Army Appeal, Upholds Major Oseni’s Acquittal
- The Supreme Court dismissed the Army’s appeal, upholding Major Oseni’s acquittal by the Court of Appeal.
- Oseni was originally convicted for his role in the 2017 incident involving Lance Corporal Collins, a ruling later overturned on appeal.
- The dismissal was due to procedural lapses, specifically the Army’s failure to compile and transmit the necessary records.
The Supreme Court has rejected the Nigerian Army’s appeal to reinstate the manslaughter conviction of Major Akeem Oseni, effectively upholding his Court of Appeal acquittal.
EKO HOT BLOG reports that Oseni was originally sentenced to 10 years in prison by a General Court Martial on February 7, 2020. His conviction arose from a 2017 incident in which he, alongside Major O. Osawe, Captain S. Amosu, and Lieutenant Dogary, was ordered to discipline Lance Corporal Benjamin Collins, who had been accused of attempting a jailbreak.
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According to court records, Oseni halted the disciplinary session shortly after it began to counsel Collins and then summoned a superior officer, who further reprimanded the soldier and directed his return to the detention facility.
Later, during routine checks, Oseni was informed that Collins was having difficulty with his leg cuffs. He immediately called the officer in charge of the detention facility and transported Collins to the Defence Headquarters Medical Centre, where the soldier was pronounced dead soon after arrival.
At the subsequent court-martial, Oseni was convicted of manslaughter, while Captain Amosu was acquitted at sentencing, and Major Osawe and Lieutenant Dogary were discharged and later acquitted by the Army Council on November 24, 2020.
Unsatisfied with his conviction, Oseni appealed, and the Court of Appeal overturned the ruling, declaring him innocent. The Nigerian Army then challenged this decision at the Supreme Court, seeking to restore his conviction.
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However, the Army’s appeal was dismissed due to a failure to compile and transmit the required records. Justice Uwani Aji, delivering the lead judgment on Wednesday, stated that the appeal filed on October 9, 2023, was dismissed for procedural lapses, specifically for not including the necessary records (appeal No. SC/CR/948/2023).
Oseni was represented by legal counsel including David Ogundipe, Abdulwahab Abdulakeem, Aisha Okuribido, and Oluwafemi Oluwadamisi.
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