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ABUJA. — Nigeria has began the trial of two army generals and 20 other officers who were recently accused of declining to fight Boko Haram, a terror group which has proved to be a hard nut to crack in the West African country, a military source said on Tuesday. The military officer, who pleaded for anonymity, told Xinhua that the court martial took place at the Officers Mess, 9th Brigade Headquarters of the Nigerian Army in Lagos, the country’s commercial hub.

Reporters were barred from the court proceedings as it was strictly a military affair, the source said.

The accused people were charged for treasonable offences or mutiny by the Nigerian army which had earlier tried two batches of army officers for similar offences.

The soldiers, while pleading not guilty to the charges, had said they only asked for support equipment before embarking on the operation against Boko Haram and not declining to fight the terror group.

Two other batches tried earlier were condemned to death by firing squad late 2014 by a court martial in the Nigerian capital Abuja.

However, the latest court martial was first in which senior army officers were being put on trial. — Xinhua.