A Federal High Court in Kaduna has ordered the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) to reinstate nine cadets who were dismissed after their Presidential commissioning in October 2019. The court also mandated the NDA to pay the cadets their accrued entitlement for the years they were unjustly dismissed.
Mohammed Ibrahim Daura, who led parents of the cadets, took legal action against the Chief of Army Staff, the Minister of Defence, the Secretary to the State Government, Major General I M Yusuf, NDA, the Chief of Defence Staff, and three others after their wards were dismissed for allegedly throwing a night party after their Passing out Parade officiated by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
The Presiding Judge, Justice Muhammad Umar, delivered a 50-page judgement, ruling that the action taken by the NDA to withdraw the cadets after their graduation was unconstitutional, unlawful, and amounted to a conviction without trial. The judge added, “The plaintiffs are entitled to be heard before any disciplinary action can be taken against them, and there is no place in the proceedings of the defendants that the plaintiffs were granted fair hearing by the NDA before their dismissal. This is unconstitutional.”
Justice Umar also ordered the immediate reinstatement of the plaintiffs, including the award and payment of their degrees and entitlements since they had already participated in the Passing out Parade.
This decision by the High Court has been met with relief by the families of the reinstated cadets and highlights the need for fair and just disciplinary procedures within Nigerian institutions.
