More than 50 soldiers sentenced to death in Nigeria

Catherine Garcia, The Week US's avatar
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More than 50 soldiers sentenced to death in Nigeria
(Image credit: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

In Nigeria, 54 soldiers were sentenced to death by firing squad after being accused of conspiring to commit mutiny and for refusing to deploy to towns seized by the Boko Haram extremist group.

Femi Falana, the lawyer for the soldiers, said that five others were acquitted. Troops say that they do not have as many guns as Boko Haram and are left on the battlefield without adequate ammunition or food, The Associated Press reports. In September, 12 soldiers were sentenced to death for mutiny and the attempted murder of a commanding officer who ordered the soldiers to drive at night on a road often attacked by militants.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.