Mark Adam Boland

Mark Adam Boland is a former Canadian soldier who was convicted of negligent performance of duty and discharged from the Canadian Forces for his role in the death of Shidane Abukar Arone in the Somalia affair. He later worked as an instructor at the now defunct private school Robert Land Academy, which closed after lawsuits alleged that staff abused children.

Somalia affair In the Somalia affair, Sergeant Mark Boland was responsible for guarding the 16-year-old Somali Shidane Abukar Arone, who was caught hiding in an abandoned US military base on March 16, 1993, next to the Canadian base where Boland was stationed. When Boland arrived to replace Master Corporal Clayton Matchee on guard duty, he ordered that Arone's bindings be loosened. After Trooper Kyle Brown took over guard duty and punched Arone in the jaw, he was told by Boland, "I don't care what you do, just don't kill the guy." After an appeal by the prosecution, his sentence was increased to one year's imprisonment, and he was dismissed from the Canadian Forces. He was alleged by a former student to have ordered boys to expose themselves to him during cold temperatures. and it shut down in June 2025.