Nigeria Troops Sentenced To Death For Cowardice

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Fifty-four members of Nigeria's special forces have been sentenced to death for mutiny and cowardice after refusing to take part in a raid against Islamist group Boko Haram.

A court martial said the men had refused to help recapture three towns in August.

Five soldiers were acquitted and the sentence must now be confirmed by army chiefs - but there is no indication they will overturn the sentence.

The men were all accused of "conspiring to commit mutiny against the authorities of 7 Division, Nigerian Army".

They had been ordered to spearhead an army raid on three towns in Borno state, in the country's northeast and the heart of the fighting.

Nigerian troops have long complained they lack the firepower to fight Boko Haram and say they are often abandoned with little food and ammunition.

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Gallery: Profile Of Boko Haram Leader

Abubakar Shekau is the leader of Boko Haram. He took control of the Islamist group after the death of founder Mohammed Yusuf in 2009.

Little is known about him, although he was born in Shekau village in the northeastern state of Yobe and is now thought to be in his early 40s.

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Shekau is Nigeria's most-wanted man and was designated a terrorist by the U.S. government in 2012. A reward of $7m (£4.6m) and 50m Nigerian naira (£182,000) has been issued for information leading to his location.

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Shekau is also known as "Darul Tawheed", a reference to his knowledge of an orthodox doctrine of Islam centred on the oneness of Allah.

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Nigerian authorities thought he had been killed in 2009 during clashes with security forces, but he reappeared in a video in 2010 to claim leadership of Boko Haram.

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Soldiers' wives have held protests outside army bases to try to stop their husbands from being deployed.

Defence officials say troops are properly equipped, but President Goodluck Jonathan earlier this year made moves to secure a $1bn (£640m) loan to upgrade the military.

Boko Haram is known to have a fearsome arsenal, including tanks, bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.

It has been fighting a guerrilla war to set up a hardline Islamic state since 2009 and is blamed for 7,000 deaths, according to Human Rights Watch.

It is also responsible for the kidnap of more than 270 teenage girls from a school in the town of Chibok in April this year.

Some 1.3 million people have been forced from their homes by the five-year conflict.

In recent weeks special forces have recaptured at least four towns with help from air raids and vigilantes.

However, the group's attacks have continued.

Its latest raid killed 32 people and saw scores kidnapped in an attack on the village of Gumsuri, according to local officials.

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