Nigeria, June 14 -- When a court convicts individuals for offences and sentences them to prison as punishment, it is expected that they immediately serve their time in jail.

But in his case, as this PREMIUM TIMES investigation found, Bello Magaji, a former military officer, never served his five-year prison sentence for sodomy imposed by the General Court Martial (GCM), a conviction later upheld by the Supreme Court.

Instead, former President Goodluck Jonathan granted him a presidential pardon many years after the conviction was affirmed by the Supreme Court. The Nigerian Army also changed his dismissal record to voluntary resignation, gave him a certificate of military service, and restored to him all entitlements for retired military ...