The United States government, on Friday, blamed the persistent terrorist attacks being carried out by men of the Boko Haram Sect on the Nigerian judiciary, saying that the institution lacks the required strength to prosecute cases of terrorism as expected.
This was disclosed in the 2014 United States Report on Terrorism which was presented to journalists at the Foreign Press Centre in Washington, DC by Ambassador Tina Kaidanow, State Department’s Coordinator for Counterterrorism.
According to the report, the Nigerian government’s criminal justice institutions were not significantly strengthened in 2014, although several donor countries, including the UK, worked closely with the Ministry of Justice to assist in prioritizing how to investigate and prosecute suspected terrorism cases.
The report also said that the Nigerian government’s efforts to address grievances among Northern populations, which include high unemployment and a dearth of basic services, made little progress.
However, it commended some state governments in the North for attempting to increase education and employment opportunities though, with little support from the federal government.
Furthermore, the report calls on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to employ a more comprehensive strategy to address Boko Haram. It adds that the comprehensive strategy combined with security efforts with political and development efforts to reduce Boko Haram’s appeal, would address the legitimate concerns of the people of the Northern Nigeria, and protect the rights of all of Nigeria’s citizens.
The report also lauds several Nigerian government agencies including the Department of State Security(DSS), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and the Ministry of Justice for performing counterterrorism functions.
“Among the problems that deterred or hindered more effective law enforcement and border security by the Nigerian government, were lack of coordination and cooperation between Nigerian security agencies; a lack of biometrics collection systems and the requisite data bases; corruption; misallocation of resources; the slow pace of the judicial system, including lack of a timely arraignment of suspected terrorist detainees; and lack of sufficient training for prosecutors and judges to understand and carry out the Terrorism (Prevention) Act of 2011”
On Regional and International Cooperation, the report says: “Throughout 2014, Nigeria participated in ministerial-level international meetings to address insecurity in the North-East Nigeria – first held in Paris in May, then London in June, and lastly in Abuja in September. The effort was concentrated on ensuring a coordinated response to the threat Boko Haram presents to the region. While dialogue between Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Benin, and Nigeria focused on strengthening regional cooperation, the countries took only minimal steps in 2014 to increase cooperation or interoperability of their security forces”
On the State of Emergency that was imposed by the immediate past administration, the US report also indicates that the emergency rule provided the then government, additional authorities to prosecute a military campaign against Boko Haram, including sweeping powers to search and arrest without warrants.
Army Set To Prosecute 350 Boko Haram Suspects
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army has said that it has 504 persons in its custody arrested in connection with the outlawed Boko Haram sect.
Of this number, 350 suspected terrorists have been recommended for trial at a Federal Court for terrorist activities in the North-Eastern part of Nigeria.
The Nigerian Army Chief of Administration, Maj. Gen. Adamu Abubakar, made these disclosures on Friday while briefing journalists.
The Army chief was surrounded at the press conference by the Directors of Information of the Army, Air Force and the Navy.
Gen Abubakar said “the Defence Headquarters set up 2 Joint Investigation Teams (JIT) to investigate, screen and categorize suspected insurgents in detention. Out of the 504 suspects screened, prima facie cases were established against 350 suspects and were recommended for trial at the Federal High Court. Their case files were forwarded to the office of the attorney- general and ministry of justice.”
“Additionally, Code of Conduct for troops in the North East and other internal operations and rules of engagement clearly spelt out guidelines for troops. Therefore the Nigerian Military does not in any way condone indiscipline or breach of such regulations, let alone wanton killing or destruction” he said
The Nigerian Military, he said, collaborates with the International Committee of the Red Cross on training of personnel on laws of armed conflict and humanitarian law regularly.
Abubakar said the recent report of the Amnesty International was a bad rehash of the previous one released in 2011.
The Armed Forces advised the AI to be fair to Nigeria in its global campaign for the protection of human rights, even as they claimed the military observes the human rights in its operation in the North-eastern part of the country.
In its latest report, the Organisation not only accused some serving and former service chiefs of human rights abuse, but called for their sanction.
The military read a catalogue of its urgent responses to all the previous questionnaire of the AI but lamented how the organisation fails to be considerate in its own operations, including failure to serve on a panel set up to investigate its grave allegations.
AI, he said, wrote a 5 point questionnaire to the Nigerian military in November 2014, alleging extra judicial killing of some groups of people by the military. “The Military responded to the 5 point questionnaire immediately and in December, precisely 23 December 2014, Amnesty International sent another 37 point questionnaire to the Nigerian military which was answered; with e-mail and hard copy delivered to Amnesty International Headquarters in London on 23 December 2014.
“If the military had anything to hide, it would not have responded to the 37 questions and others especially in the light of the constraints of timing. The Nigerian military has also allowed the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the detainees and other location at the shortest notice without hindrance and even talk to the detainees and locals. Certainly, if the Nigerian military has or had any reason to hide anything, it would not have allowed International Committee of the Red Cross access to its facilities and operational area.”
The military authorities reminded the AI that it took it five years to compile its report which it wanted the military to respond to immediately, which looks impossible.
We “appeal to Amnesty International to be patient, to see the outcome of the investigation. While it took Amnesty International from 2011 – 2015 to chronicle their allegations, they want the Nigerian military to investigate and report immediately. The investigation is on-going; Nigerians and the world at large will certainly be informed of the outcome at the end of the investigation.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Nigerian military has zero tolerance for human rights abuses, extra judicial killings and acts perceived to be war crimes.The Nigerian military is a conventional and professional military that is driven by international standards and best practices. Indeed, the Nigerian military is open to genuine criticisms and allegations but it requires time and patience to report back. It is in this spirit that Amnesty International and any other interested party are encouraged to exercise necessary restraint and patience, while awaiting the outcome of ongoing investigations.”
According to the military, “the Amnesty International allegations of human rights abuse and extra judicial killing of civilians are a rehash of the same allegations made against the military since 2011. No new facts have been unearthed by Amnesty International to warrant their repeated allegations. However, the figures adduced by Amnesty International as victims of extra judicial killing by the military have kept on increasing from 4,600 to 8,000 and even as high as 13,000 civilians. The military has the constitutional and moral responsibility to protect Nigerian citizens and cannot suddenly engage in mass murder as portrayed by Amnesty International allegations.”
The address goes further to recall some of the efforts being made over the AI investigation and how some suspects fingered have been pencilled down for prosecution by the relevant authorities.
“It will be recalled that upon the written request from Amnesty International to the military to comment on the allegations, the military promptly commenced investigations into the allegations. Consequently, several investigations on these allegations are ongoing. Some investigations have turned in their preliminary reports, which have been acted upon. Some of the investigations could not be concluded due to the inaccessibility of the terrain due to the activities of Boko Haram terrorists.
“Similarly, the preliminary investigation reports submitted have resulted in the release of some under aged detainees, women and children from some military holding facilities. Sequel to the report of the investigation panel, 42 detainees were handed over to the Borno state government on Thursday 6th November 2014 and another set of 124 persons were also handed over to the state Government on 8th November 2014 respectively. You may recall that the released persons were assisted with a token financial assistant of N100,000.00 each by the military. The living condition of the detainees was improved upon with the decongestion of holding facilities.”
Credit: Leadership
