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Nigeria releases eight soldiers over 1990 coup

[Mauritania] The caravan of hope run by NGO Nedwa and bught by World Vision tours Mauritania to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS. IRIN
The Caravan of Hope belts out an anti-AIDS message in Nouakchott
Nigeria’s Provisional Ruling Council - its military government - yesterday released eight soldiers jailed in connection with a 1990 coup plot, news reports said. Major General Felix Mujakperuo, a senior military official, told reporters in Abuja that the men, all non-commissioned officers, were being granted clemency, not pardons. Two of the detainees had been jailed without trial while the rest had been sentenced to death, ‘The Guardian’ newspaper in Lagos reported today. “It was gathered that the sentences were confirmed, commuted to jail terms and then granted amnesty based on the length of years they had spent in jail,” the newspaper reported. On 4 March, the PRC freed 45 people convicted of plotting to topple the late military leader, General Sani Abacha, in 1995 and 1997.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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