Nigerian Defence Academy, NDA, has said why it could not expel some cadets
captured on video torturing a civilian for no just reason.
Nigerians cried out in condemnation of the cadets led by a female, who
were shown in a video clip, which went viral last month, dehumanizing a
young man later identified as Amari Sunday, a staff of Jabi Lake Park,
Abuja, for allegedly commending the beauty of one of the female cadets.
Sunday later, in an interview with channels television, said the real
reason why he was tortured was because he wasn’t fast enough when one of
the unruly cadets had demanded his attention.
The Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA, had said it is currently investigating
the circumstances surrounding its female Cadet brutalizing a caviling who
complemented her beauty.
While majority of Nigerians called for the expulsion of the cadets, the
Commandant of the elite Nigerian military training institution, Major
General Mohammed Ibrahim, said they could not be expelled because the time
to prosecute them had lapsed.
According to the NDA Commandant, the time frame for expelling any cadet
for wrongdoing must not exceed six months from the date the alleged
offence was committed.
Speaking at the matriculation ceremony of 466 officer cadets of the 67th
Regular Course, Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim noted that the incident in question took
place two years ago when the cadets were first termers and had just been
in the academy for only three months.
While noting that appropriate disciplinary action had already been taken
on the cadets, he urged the newly matriculated ones to consider themselves
lucky to have successfully passed the one month intensive military
training.