Coup plotters: 'Military court trial of officers unconstitutional'

By Lawrence Agbo

Femi Falana has described the planned trial of 36 alleged coup plotters before a military court as unconstitutional, urging the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, to intervene.

In a statement, Falana called on the AGF to invoke his powers under Section 174 of the Constitution to terminate what he termed an “illegal charge” before the General Court Martial and instead arraign the accused officers at the Federal High Court.

“I am compelled to call on the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to exercise his powers under Section 174 of the Constitution by terminating the illegal charge before the General Court Martial. Thereafter, the Attorney-General should proceed to charge the 36 accused military officers before the Federal High Court,” the statement read in part.

He argued that under Section 251 of the Constitution, only the Federal High Court has jurisdiction to try offences such as treason, treasonable felony and terrorism, noting that subjecting some suspects to a military court while others face trial in a civil court violates the principle of equality before the law.

“Since the Constitution has provided for equality of citizens before the law, the planned trial of six suspects in the Federal High Court and 36 other suspects in the General Court Martial for the same offence cannot be justified under any law in Nigeria,” Falana said.

Falana further maintained that a General Court Martial lacks the legal competence to handle such offences under Nigeria’s current democratic framework, recalling that even during military rule, coup suspects were not tried by courts-martial but by special tribunals.

He stressed that since the return to democratic governance in 1999, all treason-related offences must be handled exclusively by the Federal High Court, warning that any deviation from this could amount to a constitutional breach.

“Since all treason and other anti-democratic decrees were abolished in 1999 to pave the way for the restoration of democratic rule in Nigeria, any person involved in treason or treasonable felony can only be tried by the Federal High Court,” Falana added.