The Supreme Court has discharged and acquitted Sergeant Akawu Bala, who has been on death row for over 12 years, overturning a death sentence handed down by the General Court Martial of the Nigerian Army.
Bala, imprisoned in Kaduna, was sentenced to death for the murder of Isa Mohammed.
The Nigerian Army accused Bala of shooting Mohammed on December 9, 2012, while assigned to an African Petroleum Station in Sabon Tasha, Kaduna, with an AK47 rifle.
Mohammed died on December 10, 2012, at Saint Gerald’s Catholic Hospital in Kaduna.
Tried by the General Court Martial on a two-count murder charge under Section 106 of the Armed Forces Act 2014, Bala was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.
However, on February 17, 2017, the Kaduna Division of the Court of Appeal overturned his death sentence.
The appellate court ruled that the charge sheet was not signed by a General Commanding Officer as required by law.
Justice Obietonbara Daniel Kalo, who delivered the lead judgment, declared the trial and conviction process a nullity but did not discharge Bala, prompting further appeal to the Supreme Court.
On March 16, 2017, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court justices, in a unanimous decision, discharged Bala.
His lead counsel, Mr. Reuben Okpanachi Atabo, SAN, argued that since the trial was declared a nullity, the Court of Appeal should have ordered Bala’s discharge.
Atabo referenced Section 193 of the Armed Forces Act 2014, which prohibits retrial of military personnel after a trial has been voided.
Opposing this, the Nigerian Army’s counsel, Mr. Isaac Udoka, urged the Supreme Court to sanction a retrial in the interest of justice.
Justice Helen Ogunwumiju of the Supreme Court, delivering the lead judgment, held that the proper course was to discharge Bala since his trial and conviction were voided.
Invoking Section 193 of the Armed Forces Act 2014, Justice Ogunwumiju set Bala free, stating that the law’s ordinary meaning prohibited another trial over the same allegation.
She ordered Bala’s immediate release from Kaduna prison, where he had been remanded since 2012.
Other justices concurring with the lead judgment included Uwani Musa Abba Aji, Chidiebere Nwaoma Uwa, Stephen Jonah Ada, and Abubakar Sadiq Umar.
In his defense, Bala claimed he fired at the deceased, Mohammed, and another person when they approached him in the dark at the African Petroleum Station.
He stated that his orders for them to retreat were ignored, prompting him to fire in self-defense, fearing capture during the peak of Boko Haram activities in Kaduna.
Bala maintained that he acted out of apprehension as the men continued to approach despite his repeated warnings.
