Soldier Detained For Criticising Burutai’s Poor Management of Insurgency Regains Freedom

Martins Idakpini, a lance corporal who was detained for speaking against the Chief of Army Staff, Brigadier General Tukur Burutai, has been released after six months, TheCable reports.

Tope Akinyode, the soldier’s lawyer who confirmed the development, said a court martial sitting in Sokoto ordered that Idakpini be released on bail

Court martial is a judicial process used to try members of the armed forces accused of offences.

“Court martial grants bail to Lance Corporal Martins Idakpini. The court sitting in Sokoto made the order today after I argued the bail application,” Akinyode said, in a statement issued on Thursday.

“Idakpini was arrested for criticising army authorities. He’s been detained for 7 months without access to his family.”

Idakpini was arrested and detained in Abuja after a video he made in June 2020, in which he accused Buratai of poorly managing the fight against insurgency, went viral.

In July, a federal high court in Abuja had ordered the army to grant Idakpini access to his wife, lawyer and relatives.

The court had also prohibited the military from further violating the soldier’s fundamental human rights in any unlawful manner.