Facing Dismissal, Army General Indicts President Over Theft

By Gideon Njoku

In the case of the Nigerian Army Major General, and former General Officer Commanding (GOC), 7 Division,  Sokoto, Hakeem Otiki, the hunter may become the hunted.

Otiki has been under Military detention since his boys made away with a whopping sum of N400million. Some say more.  He had sent them  on escort duty, to transport the money to   Kaduna. But the soldiers, five in number,  inexplicably, disappeared into thin air, with the money.

Nobody has seen them since that July. Nor had the name of the person to whom it was to be delivered made public.

When Major General Otiki appeared before the General Court Martial, GCM,  set up by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai on Monday, it was,  shockingly, in a wheelchair.

But that was not the only shock.

The real shock was when one of his Counsels, Major Femi Oyebanji, rtd, sort to  turn the table against a Three Star General, Lt General, Lamidi Adeosun, the Chief of Policy and Plans, who is, also, the President of the GCM.

Oyebanji asked Adeosun to step down as the President of the GCM.

The reasons he gave were serious.

For starters, he hinted that his client was a victim of a possible frame-up. And, according to him, Adeosun, the GCM President, could be at the root of it all. Both his Client and Adeosun are interested in succeeding Buratai as the Chief of the Army Staff, COAS, he disclosed. He, also insisted that both of them were rivals.

Oyebanji:”We have it on good authority that you bear a grudge and so, we have a strong feeling that our client will not get fair trial under your leadership in this court.

“It is a known fact that Gen. Otiki got into the Nigerian Defence  Academy, 10 January, before you who resumed on 4th July in 1983, and he drilled you to catch up. You never forgave him for the drilling”.

But more serious, Oyebanji alleged that Adeosun could be complicit in the case at hand because  the soldiers who disappeared with the money were Adeosun’s boys.

Oyebanji: “He took over from you as Corp Commander, Infantry, last year. When you were promoted to Lt. General, he sent you a congratulatory message which you did not acknowledge.

“It is also a known fact that when  Otiki took over command of the Infantry Corp, he inherited your security personnel that formed his inner security, who are the basis of why we are here today”.

But this magazine gathered that Oyebanji’s objection cut no ice with the members.

Adeosun, therefore, remains the President of the GCM.

Other members of the GCM include Major Generals AA Tarfa, FO Agugo, JS  Malu, MA Muhammed,  CT Olukuju, and, CC Okonkwo designated as a waiting member.

Major A Muhammed is the Judge Advocate.