By ABAH ADAH, Abuja
Federal government says convictions has been secured for 742 terrorists and other armed criminals in the last seven years.
The National Counter Terrorism Centre, Office of the National Security Adviser, NCTC-ONSA, made the disclosure at a press conference it organised in Abuja to update Nigerians on the effort being made by the government in the fight against terrorism, banditry, kidnapping among others in the country.
The centre also revealed that 888 suspected terrorists were freed by court for want of evidence.
The disclosure was jointly made by the National Coordinator, NCTC-ONSA, Major General Adamu Laka, the Director of Public Prosecution, Ministry of Justice, Abubakar Babadogo, and the Director, Legal and Head, Strategic Communication, ONSA, Zakari Mijinyawa.
According to Babadogo, out of the 1,743 terrorist suspects tried between 2017 and 2024, 92 suspects were transferred to Abuja from Niger State, for continuation of trial.
He said, “In February 2018, 203 were convicted, 582 discharged and 24 adjourned. In July 2018, 113 were convicted, 102 discharged and nine adjourned.
“Also, in December 2023, 14 suspected terrorists were convicted, one discharged and 10 adjourned.
Earlier, Major General Laka said the escalation of domestic terrorist activities and the counter-actions led to the arrest and detention of about 1,600 suspects in Wawa Military Cantonment, Kainji, Niger State.
This detention, Laka said brought to fore the urgent need to develop a comprehensive strategy on the best way to determine the culpability or otherwise of these persons suspected of being involved in terrorist activities.
He, however, noted that in order to ensure transparency and observation of international standards and human rights demands, the trials being held before the Federal High Court are supervised by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice in collaboration with the National Counter-Terrorism Centre.
“Accordingly, a team of relevant stakeholders were drawn from different MDAs to embark on the mass trial.
“These are Judges of the Federal High Court, prosecutors, defence counsel from Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, staff of the Office of the National Security Adviser, observers from the Nigeria Bar Association, and the press amongst others”.
He noted that the President Tinubu-led administration witnessed more success in the pursuit of criminal justice, with over 500 cases disposed of within the last one year, describing it as a manifestation of the government’s commitment to fighting terrorism with respect for human rights.
Responding to questions on measures put in place to protect battlefield evidence, the Director Legal and Head, Strategic Communication, ONSA, Mijinyawa said the armed forces operations integrate battle field evidence collection training.
“We have been learning and I am aware that a new field of battlefield evidence collection preservation and use has been established over the past six years.
“We have received support from partners and we have been building capacity. For instance the armed forces operations integrate battle field evidence collection training. Battlefield evidence collection is new, and countries around the world continues to grapple with it. We are fairly doing well as a country”, he said.
