FG convicts 40 Boko Haram members – Adoke

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin, with Agency reports

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN) yesterday said the Federal Government has convicted over 40 Boko Haram members for terrorism-related crimes.

Adoke made this known at the opening of an international seminar on the observance of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in Internal Security Operations co-hosted by the Office Attorney-General and the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) in Abuja.

Adoke said government had made considerable efforts in the prosecution of members of the sect under the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011 as amended in 2013.

The attorney-general commended the roles of members of the armed forces and other law enforcement agencies in containing terrorism and other related crises in the country.

He said the seminar was to sensitise the participants, particularly members of the armed forces, to comply with relevant human rights and international humanitarian laws and norms during internal security operations.

Adoke noted that the military had been effective in maintaining law and order and restoring normalcy to many crises areas in the country, adding that sometimes the intervention attracts negative reactions from affected communities on accounts of loss of lives and alleged use of excessive force.

“The unpleasant consequences of the extra-judicial killing of Malam Yusuf Mohammed, leader of the Boko Haram sect in Borno in 2009, still reverberate in the polity despite the N100 million compensation that the courts ordered government to pay to the deceased’s family”, he said.

On the criticism that trailed the deployment of troops to the troubled North-East states and the Baga incidence in Borno, the AGF said the civil disturbances in the central, Kaduna, Plateau, the militancy in the Niger Delta, and the terrorist activities of the Boko Haram had been under preliminary analysis by the ICC.

Adoke, therefore, declared that government would continue to take steps necessary at discharging its primary responsibilities of ensuring the security and welfare of the people.

He charged members of the armed forces and other security agencies to ensure that they discharge their duties within the confines of the laws and norms.