The Federal High Court sitting in Wawa Cantonment, Kainji, Niger state has suspended inconclusively the trial of 73 Boko Haram Suspects, out of the 301 that were docked.
Toward the end of the trials, 526 suspects who had been confined at the Kainji center recovered their freedom as there were no confirmation to link them with the terrorists Boko Haram group. 205 of the prisoners earned different jail terms, out of the 301 cases that went on trial.
Confidant Salihu Othman Isah, exceptional consultant to the attorney general of the Federation and minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, gave more purposes behind setting the 526 suspects free. These includes their being of minor age and suspected mental illness. The suspects were captured at various states and confined in Wawa Cantonment on suspicions that they have a place with the Boko Haram terrorists group.
One of the suspects released and cleared by the judge was Modu Maina, a local of Bama LG, Borno State who got captured in Ketu, Lagos state where he filled in as a gateman admitted that he was forced to join the Boko Haram group but he fled to Lagos to avoid being arrested in Bama.
He said that all the confession statements he made to the Joint Task Force (JTF) was done under torment. The presiding judge, defendant’s written confessional statements, found him not guilty. All the 205 convicted and sentenced to imprisonment admitted being members of the terrorist group and they also concealed information about the group which they knew or believe to be of material assistance that could lead to the arrest, prosecution or conviction of other Boko Haram members. Their jail terms ranged from 3 to 60 years.
Most of the convicts also claimed that they could not report the activities of the terror group because they harboured fears of being killed and that at the time they were arrested most villages had been ravaged by the Boko Haram including the security posts.
Alhaji Bukar Jindi who was sentenced to 16 years and 50 years on two count charge was not remorseful. Without a doubt he promised to go rejoin the gathering again once he gets his freedom.
The trial of the suspects was witnessed by representatives of the National Human Rights Commission, Legal Aid Council, Nigerian Bar Association and the media.
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