By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS 

The Nigerian army on Tuesday denied reports that 60 more soldiers would soon face trial on alleged mutiny charges.

"The report is untrue," army spokesman Olajide Laleye, a brigadier general, said in a text message to Anadolu Agency in response to requests for comment.

A military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AA that 60 soldiers – including 49 privates, two corporals and nine lance corporals – would be arraigned this week before a military tribunal.

"Each of them is to be arraigned on two counts of conspiracy to commit mutiny and murder," said the source.

"They had refused orders to deploy in August in Maiduguri [provincial capital of Nigeria's northeastern Borno State], precisely Maimalari barracks," the source added.

On September 16, a military tribunal sentenced 12 soldiers to death for mutiny. They were found guilty of disobeying orders and conspiracy to murder their commanding officer, among other things.

The ruling still requires ratification by the military high command. It is also subject to legal appeal.

Mutiny is a serious offence in the military, typically carrying a lengthy jail term or the death penalty.

The Nigerian military rarely confirms such trials to the media, ostensibly to avoid sensational reporting or possible negative effects on troop morale and the families of affected soldiers.

Nigeria is facing a violent, five-year-long insurgency waged by the militant Boko Haram group, which says it wants to establish Islamic rule in the country's north.

The militant group, however, is spurned by most of the country's Muslims.

Last week, Nigeria said it had killed a man who the military claimed had been impersonating "deceased" Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in recent videos.

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