Lieutenant colonel dies while waiting for justice

A lieutenant colonel of the Nigerian army dismissed in 2015 has died.

Ojecho Baba-Ochankpa died while waiting for justice along with 38 other dismissed officers.

 The dismissed officers were accused of partisanship in the
2015 general elections.

During the 2015 general elections, some officers of the Nigerian army were accused of partisanship.

About 22 of them were subsequently dismissed from 
service, Ojecho Baba-Ochankpa a lieutenant colonel and 
21 other officers.

Their dismissal was controversial and the lieutenant 
colonel continued to petition the President for justice. 
Sadly, on Monday, January 30, he went to bed and died 
before dawn on Tuesday, January 31.

According to ERICGOSSIP, his brother Mr Paul 
Ochankpa, said the deceased soldier was dismissed 
without any query, trial or indictment.

He also said that President Buhari from whom he sought redress in accordance with the law, did not act on his 
petition for months.

The deceased lieutenant colonel died in the United 
Kingdom where he had been since last year. His brother 
said that his late brother had not been sick “at all” before
 his passing.

According to one of his colleagues, late Baba-Ochankpa 
was reportedly in the United Kingdom studying for a 
Master’s degree at Coventry University “to keep himself 
busy, while waiting for redress after petitioning the
 President.”

The late Ochankpa was forced out of service as a
 lieutenant colonel, along with 38 officers by the Army
 Council in June 2015.

The army spokesperson, Sani Usman, a brigadier-general, hinted that the officers were fired on the grounds of arms procurement fraud and professional misconduct in the 
2015 elections.

Meanwhile, a Nigerian soldier, Egbechi Oze, has been sentenced to jail by an army general court martial sitting 
in Maiduguri, Borno state after he fled his duty post.

The soldier was among those that were recorded as
 missing after Boko Haram terrorists attacked a military
 base in Gwoza.

The court said that in spite of the fact that Oze had abandoned his duty post for almost a year, he still 
continued to enjoy his benefits.