The Federal
Government is set to begin the arraignment of suspected Boko Haram members in
various detention facilities across the country.
A statement
issued yesterday from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, stated that the arraignment would begin
on Monday, October 9.
The AGF
stated that so far, 13 cases have been concluded, nine convictions secured,
while 33 cases are still on going at various Federal High Court divisions.
Also, 116 cases are awaiting trial in Kainji.
Malami also
put the number of detainees recommended for release and deradicalisation
programme for want of evidence at 220. Those profiled at the Kainji detention
facility, awaiting judicial proceedings and deradicalisation programme were put
at 1670 while those remanded at the Federal High Court, Maiduguri and
transferred from Giwa Barracks to Maiduguri Prisons were 651.
The AGF
listed some of the challenges affecting prosecution of the alleged Boko Haram
members, to include poorly investigated case files due to pressure during the
peak of conflict at the theatre.
Others are,
over reliance on confession based evidence, lack of forensic evidence, absence
of cooperation between investigators and prosecutors at pre-investigation
stages as well as poor logistical facilities to transport defendants from
detention facility to court for trial.
The AGF also
listed scarcity of skilled or trained forensic personnel to handle
investigation of complex cases inadequate security for counsel handling
terrorism cases as well as conversion of military intelligence to admissible
evidence.
The
statement further read that the AGF has approved the list of prosecutors to
handle the cases while the Legal Aid Council has equally released a list of
defence counsels to stand in for the detainees/defendants.
Meanwhile,
Senator Ali Ndume has said that the N45 billion budgeted for the Presidential
Committee for the North-East Initiatives (PCNI); to address humanitarian crises
and feeding of 1.7 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the
insurgency affected states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, was grossly inadequate,
compared to the United Nations donor agencies’ commitments.
Ndume raised
the alarm yesterday in Maiduguri, while fielding questions from journalists on
critical issues affecting IDPs in the insurgency affected region of six states
in the northeast.
He said
despite the lingering humanitarian crises in the region, nobody is saying
anything about it. His words: “Before I went on suspension we went to the
leadership of Federal House of Representatives and the Senate to appeal for an
increase of PCNI budget. We are faced with this unfortunate situation of Boko
Haram insurgency.
“I’m
surprised that nothing was done, despite the fact that the nation budget was
increased by over N100 billion. I thought that the northeast budget had been
increased to reasonable budgetary allocations.’’
In another
development, the Commissioner of Police in Borno State, Damian Chukwu, has
averted the forceful return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in camps to
Bama town, over alleged shortages of food to feed 6, 550 returning persons that
attempted to trek to their community without military
escort.
The IDPs,
comprising women and children, had defied insecurity and landmines along the 78-kilometer
Maiduguri-Bama road. The leader of the organisers for the Bama trekking, Alhaji
Grema Kyari said that their decision was informed by the increasing number of
IDPs dying as a result of lack of coping mechanism.
“Our
decision to return to Bama was long overdue. For how long are we going to
continue in the unholy situation and harsh living conditions we found
ourselves?” asked Kyari.
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