Nigeria fires 200 soldiers for 'cowardice'
Abuja, 28 May - (ANA) - Nigeria's army has sacked at least 200 soldiers for cowardice and failure to fight Boko Haram, report say. Up to 4,500 other rank and file soldiers could be dismissed. A Nigerian military source confirmed the dismissals, but would not give an exact figure. The army was widely criticised when the Boko Haram captured vast areas in the country's north-east last year, despite a military emergency. The Nigerian army, with military backing from Chad, Cameroon and Niger, has now recaptured most of the area in the north-east which the group had seized, but sporadic attacks and violence have continued. Many of the dismissals are thought to be in connection with the fall of Mubi, the second largest town in Adamawa state, one of three states under the state of emergency. Boko Haram captured the town in October after clashes with government forces. An anonymous military official said that video footage taken during the fall of Mubi showed soldiers fleeing Boko Haram, proof of their cowardice. Nigeria's incoming President Muhammadu Buhari is expected to review the death sentence of 66 soldiers separately convicted for refusing to fight Boko Haram, according to their lawyer. About 1.5 million people have been displaced and hundreds more abducted since the group launched their violent uprising in 2009. More than 15,500 people have been killed in the fighting. The group is still holding many women, girls and children captives including 219 schools girls it kidnapped from a school in Chibok in April last year. (ANA)

FA/ANA/28 May 2015-------------