Members of the boko haram sect
The Joint Investigation Team, constituted by the military high command, has recommended the immediate arraignment of no fewer than 500 suspected Boko Haram members arrested in the North Eastern part of the country.
The Defence headquarters alleged that the suspects were arrested in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states during raids by security agencies in the states, which have been under emergency rule for three months.
Director, Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, in a statement on Wednesday said the suspects were fished out among 1,400 detainees that were screened by the investigators at various detention facilities between July and September.
Ihe Defence Headquarters had in July set up the 19-member panel, comprising high ranking officers from the military, police, officials of federal and state ministries of justice, Immigration, Prisons and the Nigerian Customs Service.
Olukolade explained that the suspects, who were recommended for trial, included high-profile suspects, some of whom were training other terrorists in weapon handling and those who confessed to have been trained in Mali and other countries to carry out terror attacks in the country.
Among the suspects, he added, included a medical doctor, paramilitary or service personnel, who were fighting on the side of the terrorists and other individuals, who offered direct logistics support to the terrorists.
He said the team recommended the release of 167 detainees and a review of about 614 inconclusive cases.
The investigators, however, proposed that some of the detainees be tried for armed robbery, murder and drugs related offences among others.
Olukolade said if the team’s recommendations were approved, the trial of some of the suspects would be held in the affected states while others might be tried at the Federal High Courts.
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