No Script

Please Wait...

Al-Ahed Telegram

Nigeria: 475 Boko Haram Suspects Freed for Lack of Evidence

Nigeria: 475 Boko Haram Suspects Freed for Lack of Evidence
folder_openAfrica... access_time6 years ago
starAdd to favorites

Local Editor

Nigeria freed another 475 Boko Haram suspects following a series of mass trials in which most cases were dropped for lack of evidence, the justice ministry said Sunday.

Nigeria: 475 Boko Haram Suspects Freed for Lack of Evidence

Over the course of the week, hundreds of suspected Boko Haram terrorists appeared before a court at the Kainji military base in central Niger state.

The release order was issued on Friday, with the 475 suspects to be returned to their home states for "proper rehabilitation" before being sent back to their families, ministry spokesman Salihu Othman Isah said.

He said they had been arrested on grounds they either belonged to Boko Haram, or had concealed information about the group's plans or its members' whereabouts.

"However, the Prosecution Counsel could not charge them with any offence due to lack of sufficient evidence against them. Therefore, the suspects were released."

Among those released was a young girl with a three-month-old baby from Borno State who was taken to a Boko Haram enclave by her brother and married off to his friend when she was 11. She was arrested in 2014 while trying to escape.

Also freed were two mechanics, identical twins who were arrested in Bauchi State in 2010 after servicing a vehicle at their workshop which belonged to a Boko Haram member.

Also Friday, the court imposed a second 15-year sentence on Haruna Yahaya, 35, who was involved in the 2014 kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok.
 
Earlier in the week, he had been jailed for 15 years but the court handed him an additional 15-year term, with the judge saying the two sentences would run consecutively.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

Comments