The Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, says the federal government will on October 9 resume the trial of suspected terrorists after the prosecution was suspended in July as a result of the annual vacation of judges.
In a statement issued by his spokesman, Othman Salihu Isah on Sunday, the minister identified the over 1600 terrorism suspects being held at the Kainji Detention Facility in Niger State as the first beneficiaries of a process to speed up the trials.
He announced the approval of a list of prosecutors to handle the cases with a list of defence counsels from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, LACON, an agency under the Ministry of Justice.
Malami also disclosed that the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court has appointed four judges to oversee the cases.
He stated that the special prosecutors will attend to the cases of the 651 detainees in Giwa Barracks, Maiduguri until the cases were exhausted.
Of the 33 cases under the Federal High Court, the minister said 13 have been concluded with nine convictions, while 116 charges are still awaiting trial in Kainji, Niger State.
He said 220 detainees in the facility were in the category that have been recommended for release and de-radicalization programme due to want of evidence.
The statement reads in part, “All is now set to begin the arraignment of suspected Boko Haram suspects in various detention facilities in the country.
“It is slated to kick-start tentatively on Monday, October 9, 2017.
“The proposed prosecutions of over One Thousand, Six Hundred (1600) detainees held in Kainji will commence by early October, 2017 after the opening of the new legal year.
“Currently, four (4) judges have been deputed by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to sit on the cases at Kainji and dispose of them expeditiously.
“It is expected that the special prosecutions will start with the detainees in Kainji followed closely by the disposal of the cases of the detainees in Giwa Barracks, Maiduguri until the cases are exhausted”.
Revealing that there were 33 terrorism cases already taking place in courts across the country, he stated that 13 terrorism cases had so far been concluded, from which nine convictions were secured.
The statement disclosed that 116 charges had been filed and are awaiting trial in Kainji, adding that 220 detainees had been recommended for release and deradicalisation for want of evidence.
According to it, “Detainees profiled at the Kainji detention facility awaiting judicial proceedings and deradicalisation programme are 1,670.
“Detainees remanded at the Federal High Court, Maiduguri and transferred from Giwa Barracks to Maiduguri Prisons are 651.”
Malami highlighted the challenges of the trial to include poorly investigated case files due to pressure during the peak of conflict at the theatre, over reliance on confession-based evidence, lack of forensic evidence, and absence of cooperation between investigators and prosecutors at pre-investigation stages.
Other challenges mentioned were: “poor logistical facilities to transport defendants from detention facility to court fortrial, 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.”
According to the statement, the Office of the National Security Adviser is expected to help by providing the deradicalisation programmes where necessary.
“This is the report of the on-the-spot assessment of the facilities and other incidentals preparatory to the commencement of trial of the over 1600 suspected Boko Haram terrorists detained in a military detention facility located in Wawa Barracks, Kainji, New Bussa, Niger State following successes recorded by the Nigeria Army and other security agencies in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria.
“A team comprising representatives of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Federal High Court and the Office of the Honourable 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 relevant authorities and organisation in final preparation of the all-important national assignment.”
The statement explained that the various suspects have been categorised into four different groups.
“Boko Haram suspects who were hitherto investigated by the Joint Investigation Team set up by the Defence Headquarters otherwise known as DHQ/JIT and case files transmitted to the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and after a careful review of the cases based on their individual merit, it was discovered that they have no prima facie cases that will sustain a charge against them in any court of law, hence were recommended for release and handed over to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) for rehabilitation and/or de-radicalisation.
“The second category is the set of suspects that the Honourable Attorney-General found prima facie cases against them and charges already filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja Division who are also mostly in the detention facility under reference and may be willing to plead guilty for a lesser sentences.
“The other category are the suspects whose case files are either recommended for further investigation or that have no investigation conducted on them at all hence they do not have case files that will warrant the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation to form any opinion in respect of their case.
“Lastly, the fourth category is the suspects whose cases were reviewed and a prima facie werefound and may be willing to opt for a full trial,” it read in part.