Trial of 2,000 Boko Haram suspects
The Federal Government will from next week, October 9, begin the prosecution of over 2,000 Boko Haram suspects detained in various detention cells. The prosecution would be handled by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami (SAN); a development that should put to rest allegations of human rights violations against Nigerian authorities.
A statement by Salihu Isah, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the minister, said the suspects were being detained in various detention facilities across the country. According to him, while there are 1,670 detainees held at a facility in Kainji, another 651 detainees are in detention in Maiduguri. Isah also said 220 detainees have been recommended for release for want of evidence and will instead participate in the deradicalisation programme.
In order to fast-track the prosecutions, he said the Justice Minister had approved a list of prosecutors to handle the cases. The Legal Aid Council also agreed to provide counsel to represent accused persons that cannot afford lawyers. He said four judges were designated by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to hear the cases at Kainji and dispose of them expeditiously. Isa said 13 cases had been concluded with nine convictions secured while 33 cases were on trial at various Federal High Court divisions. Another 116 cases have been filed but the suspects were yet to be arraigned. He said the trial of those detained in Kainji would start first to be followed by those detained in Maiduguri.
This is good news indeed. It shows the government is doing many things at the same time, from confronting the insurgents in the North East to assembling its evidence so as to have diligent prosecution of suspects. Over the years, international donor agencies and human right groups had expressed concern at the slow or non-existent prosecution of Boko Haram suspects. For instance, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch severally condemned the prolonged detention of suspects without trial.
We learnt a bitter lesson in 2010 and 2011 when, out of frustration and pressure, Nigerian authorities hurriedly took many Boko Haram suspects to courts in Maiduguri where many real Boko Haram members were discharged by judges for want of diligent prosecution. Many of them later found their ways back to Sambisa forest and participated in renewed attacks. The AGF has explained this time around that the prosecution of those arrested is slow because most of the cases were poorly investigated with confessions being the main evidence. He said the problem was compounded by lack of forensic evidence and absence of cooperation between investigators and prosecutors at pre-investigation stages.
He also said other factors that contributed to government’s inability to effectively prosecute the suspects were poor logistic facilities to transport defendants from detention facilities to courts for trial; scarcity of skilled/trained forensic personnel to handle investigation of complex cases; inadequate security for counsel handling terrorism cases and converting military intelligence to admissible evidence.
“A team comprising representatives of the Office of the National Security Adviser, Federal High Court and Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation were dispatched to Kainji from the 12th to 14th of September, 2017 to carry out the assessment and to discuss with the relevant authorities and organisations on final preparations for the all-important national assignment,” the statement said.
We commend the Federal Government for coming this far but must quickly add that four judges earmarked to handle this complex assignment is grossly inadequate, hence the need to add more hands and supporting staff to fast-track the process.
We also hope that the prosecutors have ample and credible evidence at their disposal so as not to have a repeat of what transpired in the past. All other logistics should be put in place to ensure that the trial goes on without hitches; innocent among the detainees are released and those found guilty are made to face the music for the atrocities they committed against Nigeria.