Soldier jailed for 35 years for killing colleagues, civilians

dimeji akinloye

November 3, 2016 11:36 PM

Ribeiro, who was sentenced by a military tribunal, had promised to kill his colleagues a day before the actual killing.

Nigerien soldiers patrol at the border with neighbouring Nigeria near the town of Diffa, Niger, June 21, 2016.

A soldier in

The 23-year-old soldier, Silva Ribeiro, turned his gun on colleagues as they slept at a military communications centre in April before also killing three civilians including two Spanish technicians as they arrived for work, AFP reports.

Ribeiro, who was sentenced by a military tribunal, had promised to kill his colleagues a day before the actual killing.

He was said to have been involved in a minor disagreement with his colleagues over guard duty.

Judge Ana Reis speaking at the military court said: "the psychiatric report showed that the man behind this massacre demonstrated psychopathic behavioural patterns."

Ribeiro was “fully aware” of what he was doing during the April 25 rampage, she said, ordering him to also pay 11 million escudos ($110,000) to the victims’ families.

The former soldier, who was silent throughout the case, broke his silence at the end, telling the court: "I offer my apologies to the nation."

Ribeiro was apprehended two days after the shootings at the Monte Tchota facility on the island of Santiago.

dimeji akinloye