An army major, also identified as a former Battalion Commanding Officer who led the combat against Boko Haram in the North Eastern part part of the country, Major UJ Undianyede, was said to have committed suicide.
According to sources, he took his own life less than 72 hours to the judgment of a court-martial trying him over alleged military infractions during the war.
The sources, who confirmed the occurrence to newsmen last night, said the army major took his own life on Monday on the premises of the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna, with his service pistol.
“I think he killed himself because of the judgment of the court-martial which has been fixed for tomorrow (today, May 19). We only learnt about his death today (Wednesday).
“In prosecuting the war, the Major with some of his colleagues allegedly committed some infractions for which he was being tried at the 1 Division in Kaduna,” one of the sources said.
It was gathered that the offences leveled against the deceased army officer by the court martial included insubordination, abandonment of military post, desertion, misappropriation of funds, among others.
The spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, told newsmen that he has not heard about the incident.
The spokesperson of the NDA, Major Bashir Jajira, falsified the report, saying no officer of the academy committed suicide.
“No personnel of the academy was involved in suicide as reported, and in fact, our cadets are presently in Kachia for combat shooting training, they are not in the academy. So, no such training took place.”