SaharaReporters has exclusively gathered that a soldier, Lance Corporal Martins Idakpini, is undergoing severe torture at a military base in Sokoto on the orders of Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai.
Idakpini was arrested in June shortly after making a viral video castigating Buratai for the failings of the Nigerian Army to combat and destroy Boko Haram terror group.
SaharaReporters had on September 7, 2020 reported that the military had perfected plans to court martial Idakpini.
Colonel Yabaji, head of the barracks in Sokoto where Idakpini is detained, unleashed about eight soldiers to torture him after receiving orders from Buratai.
Top army sources told SaharaReporters that Idakpini had been barred from medical treatment despite his health taking a severe dip.
Human rights lawyer, Tope Akinyode, had obtained a court order from the Abuja Federal High Court since July 22 2020 mandating the army to grant Idakpini immediate access to his lawyer and family but the army had refused to obey the order.
The President Muhammadu Buhari administration has shown disdain for court orders, rule of law, democracy and free speech.
In August 2018, Buhari, who is also a retired military general, told a gathering of lawyers that the rule of law was subject to national security.
